A Christmas Eve Story
by Minstrel164
Summary: Little Kate Beckett had to grow up in a hurry and now no longer believes in Christmas. Not since she lost her mom in tragic circumstances. Christmas is no longer fun, just a painful reminder of what's she lost. But this Christmas Eve she finds herself on a journey where she will rediscover the magic of Christmas, thanks to Santa and a certain Ricky Rodgers.
1. Chapter 1

A Christmas Eve Journey

by Minstrel164

_**A/n: With so many Yuletide stories about I thought I would get into the spirit of the season. So here is my humble offering. I hope you enjoy it.**_

Chapter 1

"Mother, do you have to go out tonight?"

Rick Rodgers stood in the doorway of his mother's bedroom watching her as she applied a final coat of red lipstick on her lips.

"I'm afraid I have to, darling." Martha Rodgers replied. She checked her appearance in the mirror and nodded her head in approval at what she saw.

"But it's Christmas Eve." Rick whined.

"I know, dear."

Martha moved over to her bed and picked up the thick coat and put it on. She fixed a warm smile to her face as she approached Rick. The unhappiness that was writ large across his face mirrored her own but being the actress that she was Martha was able to hide it much better.

"You promised." Rick accused.

The accusation was like a knife twist in the heart. Martha's smile faltered a little. She had indeed promised her son to spend Christmas Eve with him but this party she had been invited to by her agent was important. It could mean the possibility of landing a leading role in an upcoming Broadway show. It was an opportunity she just could not possibly pass up.

"I am sorry, kiddo." Martha said gently.

Martha regarded her son as he stood there dressed in his favourite Batman t-shirt and sweat pants. He looked disappointed at being let down one more time. She was grateful that he was not angry about it. She hated having to disappoint him. She hated making a promise to him and then breaking it.

Martha knew that travelling out of a suitcase, going from town to town, playing at one theatre after another and then moving on was not the kind of life she wanted for her son. She could see that he was growing rapidly and he needed a bit of stability. Somewhere they could settle down, somewhere he could go to school for longer than a couple of weeks or months, somewhere he could make friends not passing acquaintances. He needed a permanent home.

She reached out and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"If I can impress the producer tonight, I might land that role." Martha said.

"I know, mother."

"It would mean we get to stay here in New York."

"And here I was just getting used to the gypsy life we were leading." Rick quipped.

Martha broke off the hug and held her son at arms' length smiling at him. In the midst of his disappointment he could find humour.

"I will make it up to you tomorrow, Richard." She promised.

"I know." Rick smiled.

Martha returned the smile and nodded her head before she pulled him into another hug. She would be the first to admit that she had made mistakes in her life, a great many, but her son was not one of them. She loved her son so very much. She was doing this for her son.

With some reluctance she released Rick from the hug. Rick stepped aside to allow her out of the room and he trailed behind her into the living room.

It was the one room in the apartment that reflected the spirit of the season. A small plastic Christmas Tree stood in the corner decorated with tinsel and baubles with a six pointed star at the top. A string of twinkling lights added more colour. A handful of gift wrapped presents nestled underneath the tree. More tinsel decorated the walls. The portable TV was switched on showing a performance of _The Nutcracker_, it was also decorated with some tinsel and several Christmas cards sat on top of the set.

Rick looked at the decorations and felt pleased with himself. He had done the decorating all by himself one day after coming home from school. His mother was supposed to help with the decorating but had been delayed at some casting call so it had been left up to him.

He would have loved to have a real Christmas tree but his mother had said that they could not afford it so this borrowed one from one of the neighbours would have to suffice. Rick had promised himself that when he grew up he would always buy a real Christmas tree.

"Now you will behave yourself for Melanie, wont you?" Martha said, glancing at the woman who would be babysitting for the evening.

"Yes, mother." Rick intoned dutifully.

Rick wondered if his mother knew that her friend Melanie would head straight for the liquor cabinet the moment the front door had closed. Perhaps she did. Melanie was an out of work actress and babysitting on Christmas Eve was better than doing nothing. She had babysat him a few times before and she was not all that bad really.

"What are you going to do?" Martha inquired as she gathered up her purse and headed for the front door. She checked her appearance one final time in the hallway mirror.

"I think I'll go to my room, maybe read for a little while." Rick replied. "Or perhaps I might start writing a magnum opus about a little boy abandoned by his mother on Christmas Eve."

"Richard." Martha warned.

"Sorry, mother." Rick said sheepishly.

"Well don't stay up too late dear or Santa wont pay you a visit."

"I wont." Rick promised.

"Good boy."

"Knock em dead, mother." Rick said with a smile. He gave her a final hug and kiss. "And behave, please. I don't want to be getting a call in the middle of the night from the police asking me to get someone to bail you out."

"Oh Richard, that was one time." Martha said with mock outrage, glancing at her friend Melanie who merely smiled indulgently.

"It was three but who's counting?"

Martha laughed.

"Merry Christmas, kiddo."

"Merry Christmas, mother."

Rick closed the front door and turned around to find Melanie heading for the liquor cabinet, as he had predicted.

"I'll be in my room, Melanie."

"Sure thing, Ricky." Melanie replied.

XXX

Rick was sitting at his desk hurriedly writing in the leather bound journal that was given to him by his mother as an early Christmas present. He would have loved to have a feathered quill with which to write with just like they did in the olden days but he had to make do with a fountain pen that he had gotten for his last birthday. Having a fountain pen made him feel like a real writer.

He had written a couple of stories in the journal already and he had started another one the moment he come to his room. He loved writing, he always had stories dancing around in his head and it was all he could do to get them down on paper.

Finishing a page Rick lifted his head and looked over to the small clock sitting on the desk. He was surprised to see that it was eleven o'clock. He was amazed to realise that he had been writing for three hours straight. It happened sometimes, he got so involved in writing that he forgot about the time. He got so lost in the world that he created.

He put down his pen and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He read the last page he had written. A smile spread across his face as he read over what he had written. He nodded to himself at the story he was writing feeling very pleased with himself. It was one of the best stories he had ever written he thought to himself. A story about a boy's journey to visit Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Suddenly Rick jumped to his feet. He was shocked to realise that he had not put out cookies and milk for Santa when he came to visit. How could he have forgotten such an important thing? What would Santa think that when he stopped at his home to leave his present and find no plate of cookies waiting for him. That would definitely put his name on the naughty list for next year.

Rick hurriedly put on his dressing gown, the Batman one that his mother had bought him not so long ago and quickly rushed out of his bedroom. He entered the living room to find Melanie asleep on the couch clutching a small half empty bottle of bourbon.

He came over to the couch and slowly extricated the bottle from Melanie's clutches. The babysitter stirred a little but settled down again. Rick smiled a little. Melanie was not really a big drinker. He capped the bottle and set it on the coffee table. He took the folded blanket from one of the armchairs and draped it carefully over Melanie.

"Merry Christmas, Melanie." Rick said in a low voice.

Rick left Melanie to sleep and continued into the kitchen. He searched through several cupboards until he found the packet of cookies that he had bought especially for Santa. He brought the packet to the table and then a plate. He tore open the packet and arrayed the cookies neatly on the plate. Then he went to the fridge and was about to pull out the carton of milk but he paused when he spotted a bottle of ginger ale. His hand moved from the milk carton to the ginger ale. Everyone would set out milk for Santa, Rick thought to himself. Perhaps he might like something different. He took the ginger ale from the fridge and set that on the table beside the plate of cookie. He put a tall glass next to the ginger ale.

Rick smiled to himself as he looked down at the cookies and ginger ale. He was sure that Santa would be pleased with this. With a nod of his head Rick turned and walked out of the kitchen. He glanced over to the sleeping Melanie and continued on his way back to his bedroom.

He launched himself at his bed and landed with a bounce. Turning on his back, Rick stared up at the ceiling. A smile swept across his face as he thought that it would not be long before Santa Claus would be coming. He closed his eyes.

A loud train whistle awoke Rick in an instant. He had barely closed his eyes when he had been woken by the sound. A train whistle, he thought to himself. There were no train lines nearby. The nearest subway was several blocks away. He heard the whistle again.

Instantly Rick leaped off the bed and flew to the window. Peering out the window his mouth dropped open in astonishment. There was a train in the middle of the street.

"Wow!" Rick exclaimed.

Rick rushed away from the window and out of his bedroom. He had to go out and see this. He raced through the living room and reached the front door. He opened the door and ran down the corridor. He did not pause at the elevator because it usually took forever to arrive, instead he headed for the stairs. In his growing excitement Rick took the stairs two at a time.

Reaching the lobby he raced across the lobby heading for the front door. He glanced in the direction of the reception desk and saw that the door man was not there. Perhaps he had an errand to attend to, Rick thought to himself otherwise he would have called out to him to stop him from running outside on his own.

Rick threw open the front door and dashed into the street. He came to sliding halt. The side walk was slippery with snow and ice. The first thing that Rick noticed was that the entire street was eerily quiet. There were no people on the street. No cars moving, nothing. The only noise was coming from the locomotive, the usual hissing and huffing sounds that steam trains made making them sound as they were alive. How could everything go quiet, Rick wondered. This was New York City after all.

Rick put aside that thought as he cautiously approached the train. It seemed to rise from the street towering over him. He had seen pictures of this train. He walked past the window of the Engineer's cabin but there did not seem to be anyone in there. There was a light coming out of from within but there did not seem to be anyone in there, at least no one that Rick could see.

He continued walking along the length of the train past the coal tender to the first car. The windows were all frosted and he could not see anything inside. He could hear the sound of laughter, children's laughter.

In the distance he saw a man in a uniform climb down from one of the passenger cars. He stood on the road and pulled out a pocket watch and looked at it. He nodded his head with satisfaction. He put away the pocket watch and looked up and saw Rick's approach. The man consulted his clipboard.

"Are you you Ricky Rogers?"

"Yeah." Rick replied. "Is this a Berkshire 1225?"

"Indeed it is young man." Replied the conductor. "You know your trains?"

"I did a project at school one time." Rick explained with a smile.

"I'm Conductor Montgomery." Conductor Montgomery said with a smile. "Have you got your ticket?"

"My ticket?" A frown creased Rick's face.

"Yes your ticket." Conductor Montgomery said. "You've been booked to ride this train."

"I have?"

"Yes."

Rick had not booked any train trip he was sure of that because he would have remembered it. And he did not think his mother would have done it either.

"Do you know what train this is, young man?"

Rick shook his head slowly.

"Why it's the Polar Express, of course." Conductor Montgomery declared.

Rick's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the announcement. He knew about the Polar Express. He had read a story about it not all that long ago. The Polar Express was the train that travelled to the North Pole. To where Santa Claus lived.

"Cool!" He exclaimed with excitement.

Rick reached into his pocket of his robe and much to his surprise he pulled a golden ticket. He stared at it for a moment before he looked up at Conductor Montgomery. Conductor Montgomery beamed at Rick.

"Good man."

Conductor Montgomery waved Rick aboard. Rick did not need a second invitation he quickly made his way to the steps and climbed aboard the train. Conductor Montgomery followed him up and paused.

"All aboard!" he called out.

He was answered with a loud blast of the whistle. Moments later the train slowly began to ease forward. Conductor Montgomery pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. He smiled.

"On time." He said with satisfaction.

Rick opened the door and stepped into the passenger car. He looked in wonder at the sight of so many children. Most were sitting down talking to the person next to them but a few were up and about skylaring. Many of them did not take much notice of him.

He did not recognise any of these children. None of them were from his neighbourhood or from his school. He was a little disappointed at this discovery. It would have been good if he knew someone here, someone to share the experience.

Rick shook off those thoughts and moved along the aisle. He found a spare seat and sat down. He slid toward the window. It really did not matter that he did not know anyone here. He usually made friends quickly, like he did when he came to a new school.

A smile rose to his face. He was going to the North Pole. He was going to meet Santa Claus! That was more than enough than worrying about not knowing anyone here on the train.

Rick spotted an exercise book sticking out of the pocket in the seat in front of him. He pulled it out. There was a pen in the pocket that he took out as well. He opened the exercise book and started to write. This was so cool!

XXXXX

_**So what did you think? I would dearly love to hear what you thought of this first chapter.**_

_**Con **_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The movie finished and Katie pushed herself out of the armchair she had been sitting in to watch it and got to her feet. She looked over to where her father was sitting, his armchair. He had a sad smile etched on his face as his gaze was focused on the credits rolling on the television screen. She saw the tracks of the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. They always watched _It's A Wonderful Life_. It had been a family Christmas tradition. She knew that it was one of his favourite movies. It had been her mother's favourite movie too.

Thoughts of the one person who was not here any more brought forth more pain for Katie. She tried hard to push away those thoughts and ignore the pain. It was hard. This was the second year her mother was not with them and she felt her absence even more, even deeper this year than last year. Last year they had been in shock by her horrible death. The shock had passed and all that remained now was the pain, the deep unrelenting pain and an emptiness that would never be filled.

Katie moved to the coffee table and picked up the remote control and switched off the television. Her father slowly shook off his reveries and turned to look at his daughter. He offered her a small smile. She had not wanted to sit through the movie. It wasn't the same with out her mom but her father had insisted and she reluctantly agreed to sit through it. For his sake.

"Time for bed, Katie." Her father said. "You don't want Santa to find you still awake when comes visiting tonight?"

Katie rolled her eyes at her father. She wanted to tell him there was no such thing as Santa Claus. She had stopped believing in Santa when she figured that how could someone come down a chimney to deliver presents when her family lived in an apartment which had no chimney! The following year she had gone off to bed but had come down and secretly caught her parents putting the presents under the tree. She never called them out on that but just played along with them just to keep them happy but she had stopped believing. Also her inquiring mind could not understand how someone could travel faster than the speed of light on a sleigh pulled by reindeer no less hauling so many presents. It never added up.

"Yes Dad." Katie said after a moment. No thought of protesting about going to bed, no thought of begging him to let her stay up for little longer.

Katie walked over to where her father was sitting and threw her arms around his neck hugging him tightly.

"Good night Dad." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Good night, Katie. Merry Christmas."

Katie pulled back and paused. She did not want to say it. She found it meaningless. But she saw the look in her father's eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Dad." Katie said without much enthusiasm.

When did she stop calling him 'Daddy' and start calling him 'Dad'? She could not remember when that had happened but now it always 'Dad' and not 'Daddy'.

She left her father in the living room and headed upstairs to her room. She changed into her pyjamas and got into bed. She thought about picking up the book sitting on her bedside table and reading for a little while but she was not in the mood to read a few more chapters. Instead she reached for the lamp and switched it off. She then pulled up the blanket and closed her eyes, willing sleep to claim her.

Tomorrow was going to be a trying day for her. She suspected that she and her father had been invited to some relative's Christmas lunch. He had not told her anything but that was probably what would happen, like it had last year. She had gotten into a fight with one of her cousins who had been so happy to get a new Super Mario game from Santa and let everyone know about it. She had burst his bubble by telling him that Santa didn't exist and went on to provide evidence of his non existence, that the present he had received was from his parents. Before the pushing and shoving that ensued turned into blows some adults had intervened to separate them. Her cousin had yet to forgive her for that. She did not care.

Christmas Day was one of a few days that Katie hated.

XXX

It was the tinkling of a bell that made Katie open her eyes. She stared into the darkness of her bedroom trying to locate the source of the sound. There was silence. After some moments she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. The tinkling bell sounded again. This time it was louder than the first time.

Katie opened her eyes again and then sat up. It could not be her father playing some kind of prank, could it, she wondered? She quickly realised that it was not her father. He had not played a prank in a long time. There had been a time when he loved playing silly little practical jokes on her or her mother. No, the pranks had stopped after her mother had gone.

Katie's eyes were drawn to the shimmering golden light that was coming from under her bedroom door. She frowned at the sight of the light. She did not know what it was. Had her father switched on a new light or something, she wondered?

Suddenly another thought intruded. A more serious one. She got off the bed and grabbed her dressing gown, putting it on as she made her way to the door. Why hadn't the smoke alarm had gone off? Had her Dad forgotten to replace the battery? He was getting a little forgetful. He had forgotten her birthday this year but at the time she had forgiven him. She had not been the mood to celebrate her birthday. There had not been much to celebrate.

Reaching the door she placed her hand on it. The door felt cold. She frowned at that discovery. She could not smell smoke either. There was no fire, she was relieved to discover. Looking down Katie saw that the golden light had grown brighter as it shimmered. What could it be?

There was only one way to find out, Katie told herself. She put her hand on the door knob and slowly turned it. Opening the door she peered out to find the hallway bathed in the golden light. She stared at it in surprise and wonder. As she stood in the doorway she saw that the light moved away from her and made its way toward the top of the stairs.

Katie slowly followed the shimmering light. She watched as the light moved down the stairs. The light was bright but not bright enough to blind her and she could see through it. It was very strange. Pausing at the top of the stairs she stared at the golden light. The light had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pulsated as if it was waiting for her to follow.

Katie took a tentative step forward and then another. The golden light remained at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her. She reached half way down the stairs before the light pulsated brightly and moved off. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw that the light was now waiting at the front door. The open front door.

She hesitated at the foot of the stairs staring at the open front door. Slowly she took a step forward and then another and made her to the front door. She peered into the hallway and saw that the golden shimmering light was hovering at the end of the hallway by the door that led to the stairs.

Katie was amazed to see the golden light pass through the door. She saw its shimmering glow under the door. Against her better judgement Katie started down the hallway towards the door to the stairs.

On reaching it she opened the door and peered into the stairwell.

The golden light was several floors below, stationary, pulsating as if it was beckoning her to follow. Katie started down the stairs slowly. The golden light waited for her to climb down one flight before it started moving again. Katie continued making her way down the stairs.

Katie had no idea what this golden light was or where it came from but she found herself being drawn to it. She could not understand why she was following it but that it is exactly what she was doing. A part of her wanted to turn around and go back up stairs to her apartment but that thought was overwhelmed by the rest of her that was compelled to follow the golden light.

On reaching the ground floor Katie pushed open the door and walked into the lobby of the apartment building. The lobby was empty and silent. Doorman's desk was vacant Katie noticed as she slowly crossed the lobby heading towards the open door where the golden light was shimmering.

Walking out of the building Katie saw the golden shimmering light that had drawn her out of her bed and out of her apartment start to fade until it finally vanished completely. But what she saw instead astounded her.

Katie stared in wide-eyed wonder at what she saw. There in the middle of a New York street was a big black steam train but not only a train there were half a dozen cars attached to the locomotive. This was not happening, Katie told herself. This was not real. She must be dreaming. That was it. She was dreaming.

Despite the shock of being confronted by the sight of a train in the middle of her street, Katie slowly ventured towards it. From the locomotive there came hissing sounds and smoke belched from the funnel. A bell was tolling slowly and rhythmically.

Looking down the length of the train she saw that the windows seemed to be frosted but a yellow-orange glow emanated from the lights within the cars. Above the noise of the locomotive Kate could hear the sound of children's laughter. Her inquisitiveness got the better of her and she moved along the length of the train.

From the second last car a door opened and man in a crisp uniform and cap appeared. It must be the conductor Kate, thought to herself as she watched as the conductor unfolded a set of steps and climbed down to the street. Tucked under his arm was a clip board. Once standing on the street, the conductor straightened his cap and took the clipboard from under his arm. He consulted the clipboard and then looked up.

"Are you Katie Beckett?" The conductor asked.

"It's Kate, Kate Beckett." Kate replied in a firm voice.

An amused smile appeared on the Conductor's face that reached all the way to his kindly eyes.

"My mistake, young lady." The Conductor said, he produced a pen from a pocket on his uniform and made a quick correction on the clipboard. He looked down at Kate.

"Are you Kate Beckett?"

"Yes I am."

"Well, I'm Conductor Montgomery."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." Conductor Montgomery replied. "Are you ready to climb aboard?"

"And go where?"

The look of astonishment that appeared on Conductor Montgomery's face made his moustache twitch. He leaned down to peer at Kate.

"Don't you know what this is, young lady?" He said waving his free hand at the train.

"It's a train." Kate responded.

"It's not just a train."

"It looks like just a train." Kate countered.

"This is the Polar Express."

Kate had heard of the Polar Express. It was a story that her mother had first read to her years ago and Kate herself had read. A look of doubt settled on her face. The Polar Express was fictional, a mere story it was not real. It certainly was not a train that would be sitting in the middle of a New York street.

"What's it doing here?" Kate asked.

"It's here to pick you up." Conductor Montgomery replied.

"I didn't book a train ride." Katie stated.

"Well your name is on the passenger manifest." Conductor Montgomery said. "Someone must have."

"I doubt it." Katie shook her head.

Conductor Montgomery regarded Katie carefully with narrowed eyes.

"Well you might as well climb aboard, seeing as you're out here." Conductor Montgomery suggested. "Would you like to climb aboard?"

Katie considered the question. She did not want to believe that a train could be sitting in the middle of a street late at night but here it was. Again she found a part of herself wanting to turn around and head back yet the rest of her wanted to climb onto the train. It felt like the same compulsion that had made her follow the shimmering golden light.

After some moments Katie reached a decision. She looked up at Conductor Montgomery and nodded her head. Conductor Montgomery smiled down at Katie. He too nodded his head. He straightened up.

"Do you have a ticket?" Conductor Montgomery asked.

"A ticket?"

"Yes, a ticket. You can't climb aboard without a ticket."

"I don't have..." Katie frowned.

"Have you checked your pocket?" Conductor Montgomery interjected. He pointed at Kate's pocket.

Kate looked down at the pocket of her dressing gown and was astonished find a gold coloured ticket poking out of the pocket. Where did that come from, she wondered to herself as she reached to pull the ticket. The ticket was not there when she had put on the dressing gown she was certain of that. She looked down at the ticket she was now holding in her hand. She looked up at Conductor Montgomery.

"There you go, there's your ticket." Conductor Montgomery said as he took it from Kate. He examined a moment before holding it back to Kate. "Young lady, you can now climb aboard."

Katie hesitated she glanced back in the direction of her home before looking back at the train. She saw the expectant look on Conductor Montgomery's face. Reaching a decision Katie started climbing up the steps onto the train.

A tiny voice in her head started questioning why had she gotten on board the train. Katie knew the answer to that, she had felt an unexplained compulsion to get on the train. She also wanted to get away from home even for a little while, away from the unhappy memories that resided there, even for just a little while. After all, this was just a dream, she reminded herself.

"All aboard!" Conductor Montgomery shouted. "next stop, the North Pole!"

Kate entered the passenger car and was confronted by a whole car full of kids. Some looked up at her entrance but most were too busy playing with their companions to take in the new arrival much less that the train had stopped to pick up another passenger.

She walked along the aisle looking for somewhere to sit down. Near the back of the car she found an empty seat and sat down. She looked at the window but could not see out of it, the glass was frosted. She turned away from the window and looked across the aisle and saw a boy sitting by himself.

Kate saw that they boy was busy writing. He seemed oblivious to all the noise of the other children in the car. She regarded him carefully and wondered how he could keep writing with all the noise going on.

Sensing that he was being watched the boy stopped writing and looked up. Kate saw him flash a smile in her direction. She also saw that he had blue eyes. Kate felt her cheeks start to warm up at being caught staring. Quickly she looked away trying to hide her embarrassment. She could feel the boy staring at her and she studiously refused to turn her head. After a few moments she could not resist the urge to look over. With her head bowed she cast a glance in the boy's direction. It was with a little relief she found the boy had returned to his writing.

"Hey there, girlfriend!" Came a familiar voice to Kate.

Kate looked up and found her best friend Lanie Parish walking up the aisle towards her. Kate could not help but smile at seeing Lanie.

XXXXX

_**What did you think of this chapter? Your reviews would be greatly appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Hey Lanie." Katie said, smiling. She got up and greeted her friend with a hug.

Kate was surprised at how happy she was to find there was a familiar face amongst all these kids. Not that it would have been too much of a bother if there was no one here that she knew. She would have kept to herself but having Lanie on the train was a welcome relief.

"So, you're on the train too, huh?" Lanie said.

"Yeah." Katie nodded.

Katie sat in the seat closest to the window and her friend sat down beside her.

"I didn't expect to see you here, girlfriend."

"I didn't expect to find myself here." Katie replied.

Katie was still finding it hard to believe that this was all real. She was still finding it hard to believe that she was on an old fashioned steam train travelling through the night. A part of her was sure that this was some kind of dream and she would wake up in her own bed.

"So why did you?"

Katie had no suitable answer to Lanie's question. She had her reasons why she had climbed onto the train but she did not want to tell her friend those reasons. In answer to Lanie's question Kate could only shrug her shoulders. Lanie accepted that answer.

"So what are you doing for Christmas Day?" Lanie asked her friend.

"I don't know." Katie shrugged. "I suppose we'll be visiting some family relative. Dad hasn't said which one."

Lanie saw her friend's unhappiness. She knew that Katie hated visiting her relatives and hated it even more around the holidays, ever since her mother had died. Katie had confessed to her about the incident last Christmas lunch.

"You know what?" Lanie said, brightening.

"What?"

"Why don't you come over to my place for Christmas lunch?" Lanie suggested.

Katie looked at her friend in surprise.

"Mamma has been at me to invite you over."

Katie raised her eyebrows at her friend.

"She has." Lanie insisted. "'Girl, why don't you invite Katie Beckett for Christmas lunch'?"

Katie giggled at Lanie's impersonation of her mother. Lanie could do an uncanny impersonation of Mama Parish.

"You don't have to call or nothing, just come over." Lanie added.

"I don't know, Lanie."

"We'd all love to have you over, you know that. I'd love you to come."

"I'll think about it." Katie conceded.

"You do that, girlfriend, and I'll see you tomorrow." Lanie said. "We sit down to eat at 1pm."

Katie could not help but smile at her friend. Lanie was not the kind of person who took no for an answer. The thought of going to Lanie's for Christmas lunch had appeal. Lanie's household was like a madhouse sometimes but it was fun and welcoming. Katie felt like a member of the family whenever she visited. Maybe she would go to Lanie's. It would certainly be better than going to a cousin's house. She would ask her father.

Katie turned her head and peered out the window. The frosting on the glass was fading and now she could just see out. She had been expecting to see scenes of the city but beyond the window was nothing but darkness. She thought it a little odd.

Lanie looked about her watching some of the kids at the front of the car who were out of their seats and playing. It reminded her of some of a school field trip with some kids unable to remain in their seats on the school bus. Only this time there was no teacher ordering the kids back to their seats.

"Do you know who else is onboard?" Lanie said.

Katie turned away from the window to look at her friend.

"Who?" Katie asked.

"Javi and Kevin."

"Really?"

"Mm-mmm."

Katie saw the happy expression on Lanie's friend. Javi and Kevin were their friends from school. The four of them were together practically all the time, they were like a little gang.

"I'm sure you're happy to see Javi here." Katie remarked.

"What are you saying, girlfriend?"

"I'm not saying anything." Katie said innocently.

"Yeah right." Lanie scoffed.

Katie knew full well that her friend was kind of sweet on Javi and he with her. She found it amusing at the way the two of them tried to keep it secret. The two of them would always sit together at lunch or after school.

"I don't know why you're keeping it secret." Katie laughed.

"Keeping what a secret?"

"You and Javi."

"What?" Lanie exclaimed.

"You and Javi are going steady." Katie accused.

Lanie's eyes bulged with shock. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

"Everybody knows it." Katie added.

Lanie recovered from her shock. She narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Girl, I'm gonna smack you." Lanie warned.

"For telling the truth?"

Katie held Lanie's gaze and did not flinch. Lanie could be intimidating when she wanted to be and there were many kids who were wary when she had this kind of look on her face. Not Katie though. She knew her friend well enough to know that the look of intimidation was usually just an act, well most of the time. The staring contest lasted for a little over a minute. It was Lanie who blinked first and backed down. Her expression softened and a shy smile settled on her lips.

This was all the confirmation Katie needed to know that Lanie and Javi were indeed going steady. She smiled at Lanie before turning back to the window. She was not going to press the matter right now.

Lanie looked across the aisle and saw the boy sitting there by himself busy writing. She studied him for a few moments. She liked what she saw. He might not have looked as nice as her Javi but he was alright. Lanie nudged Katie to get her attention.

"What?" Katie asked.

"Look at Writer Boy over there."

Katie looked past her friend to the boy she had seen when she had first climbed onto the train. It amused her to see that he was still writing. The intense look on the boy's face was ruined by the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth lending it a comical expression. To Katie it looked cute.

"He looks yummy." Lanie murmured.

When Lanie did not get a response she glanced at her friend and saw Katie staring at the boy. If Lanie was not mistaken she thought she saw a hint of a smile on Katie's face. This was interesting, Lanie thought to herself. She could have some fun with this and get her friend back for the Javi thing.

"You like him." Lanie declared in a low voice.

"What?" Katie was startled by that remark.

"Oh, you so like him."

"No I don't." Katie said automatically.

"Yes you do." Lanie said firmly.

"No I don't."

"Then why are you staring at him like you want to eat him?"

"Lanie." Katie hissed, shocked what her friend had just said. She could feel herself start to blush.

"What?" Lanie said, amusement sparkling in her eyes. "Tell me I'm wrong."

At that moment Rick looked up from the note book and saw the two girls looking at him. His eyes were drawn to the brunette girl sitting by the window, the one who had been the last one to get on the train. A shy smile rose unbidden to his lips. The girl quickly looked away but not before he saw her face starting to turn red. Her friend laughed and nudged the brunette girl. Rick smiled even more, feeling his own cheeks getting warm. He turned back to the story and resumed writing.

"I think he likes you, girlfriend." Lanie laughed as she nudged her friend.

"Lanie, stop it." Katie said in a low voice. Her eyes were focused on the window.

Before Lanie had a chance to pursue the matter further, something which she wanted to do, as she was not above a spot of revenge. The arrival of Javi and his friend Kevin put paid to Lanie's plans.

"Hey Chica." Javi Esposito said with a grin.

"Hey Javi." Lanie replied with a smile.

"Javi and I going to the dining car to get some hot chocolate, you guys wanna come?" Kevin said.

Lanie was already on her feet even before Kevin had finished the question. Katie remained in her seat. She declined the invitation, telling her friends she did not feel like hot chocolate. Javi and Kevin did not press Katie because they knew that sometimes she preferred to be alone. Lanie on the other hand gave her friend a knowing smile before she departed. Katie glared back at her friend before turning her attention back to the window.

XXXXX

_**A review of this effort would be appreciated, Dear Reader.**_

_**Con **_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rick heard the door to the carriage open up and the loud staccato clickety-clack sound of the wheels on the rails. The sound ceased when the door closed. He looked up from writing in his note book to see who had entered the car. He found a tall light brown haired kid walking slowly up the aisle. He had the kind of assured swagger of a kid who was a leader of a gang and not to be messed with. Rick could not help but think that with that square jaw and hard look he had all the makings of a G-man in the future or some super villain in a James Bond movie.

Rick tried to return to the story he had been writing but he could not help but notice the kid was approaching, his eyes sweeping from side to side looking at the kids sitting there, and considering whose lunch money he was going to steal no doubt. He came to a halt by the seat in front of the brunette girl.

"Hey Katie." the kid said.

"Hey, Will."

Rick forgot all about his story as he cast a glance across the aisle. The kid named Will, the future G-man or super villain had a proprietary look about him as he lounged against the back of a seat.

"What ya doing in here with all the losers?" Will said. "Why don't you come and join us in the other car?"

Katie shook her head.

"Ah, come on, Katie."

"I'm fine here, Will."

"I ain't asking, Katie." Will said ominously. "I'm telling."

Rick saw the girl Katie lift up her chin and a hard, dark look settle on her face as she stared up at Will.

"And I'm telling you I'm fine here." She announced tersely.

"Don't make me have to drag you, Katie." Will warned, a confident smirk on his face. "You don't want everyone laughing at you as I drag you out of here."

"Go away, Will and leave me alone."

"Can't do that, Katie." Will shook his head, the smug look still on his face.

Rick set aside his journal and pen and rose to his feet. He did not know what made him rise to his feet really, perhaps it might have been because of all those stories about knights in shinning armour rescuing damsels in distress that had been reading lately at the library or something else. What he did know was that he did not like the way things had turned between Katie and Will and he knew he could not sit back and do nothing.

"I think you'd better leave." Rick said as he stepped into the aisle.

Will swung round and looked at the kid who had intruded. Rick saw a brief flicker of surprise on Will's face as he was confronted by someone who was the same size and shape as him. The swagger and smirk returned slowly after taking Rick's measure.

"This doesn't concern you, so go back to your seat, sport." Will said.

"I think it does." Rick returned. "The lady has asked you to leave, I think you should."

"Lady?" Will laughed. "Lady, eh?"

"Yes." Rick replied. His eyes flickered over to where Katie was sitting and the look on her face was unreadable. He looked back to Will.

"Go back to your seat." Will said.

"After you leave."

Will took a step towards Rick. Rick was starting to feel a little nervous which he tried hard not to let it show on his face. He had no doubt the future G-man or super villain could handle himself in a fight and from the looks of things he was spoiling for a fight right now.

"Will, leave now or I'll call the conductor." Katie said angrily.

"I'll leave after I deal with this guy here."

Rick was not much of a fighter, he would be the first to admit that. Usually he had relied on his quick wits and tongue to get himself out of tricky situations just like this one. It also helped that when quick wit and sharp tongue did not work the last weapon in his armoury was turning tail and running as fast as his legs could carry him. Well that last weapon in his armoury was not going to work this time, he realised.

Well there was last trick that he had up his sleeve. In this moment he silently thanked his mother for having dragged him to countless stage show rehearsals and performances. He had learned a few tricks of the acting trade. To be a good actor or actress one had to believe totally in the role one was performing. Right now he believed totally he was a knight in shinning armour.

Rick took a step towards Will staring at him. He wanted Will to know that he was not going to back down. He wanted Will to believe he would not back down. Will's eyes widened a little but the confidence returned and he took another step towards Rick.

Well, so much believing in the role, Rick thought to himself as he continued to stare at Will. The other kid wanted to fight him there was no doubt of that. Rick could see it in his eyes.

"Mr Sorensen." Boomed the voice of Conductor Montgomery.

Will's eyes left Rick's and turned to look at where the conductor was standing.

"Is there a problem here?" Montgomery inquired.

"No problem, sir."

"Then I suggest you return to your carriage, Mr Sorensen."

Will slowly turned his head and looked at Rick. He flashed a confident grin.

"We'll finish this later, sport." Will said in a low voice that only Rick heard.

Rick watched silently as Will moved off down the aisle and disappear through the door into the next car. Rick let out the breath he had been holding. Rick looked over to Montgomery and gave him a small nod of the head. Montgomery flashed a small smile before he left.

"I think you'd better watch your back." Kate said.

Rick turned and saw that Kate was smiling gently up at him.

"I think you might be right." Rick replied, as the enormity of what he had done began to sink in. "So who was he?"

"Someone who thinks I'm still his girlfriend." Kate huffed.

Rick nodded his head slowly. "I get the impression you are a little more discerning about that."

Kate's smile deepened a little as she shrugged her shoulders.

Rick glanced in the direction of where Will had disappeared before he turned back to look at Kate.

"Well, I think I know who's going to get a lump of coal for Christmas." Rick grinned.

Kate laughed at that remark. Rick liked the sound of her laughter. He smiled. Unbidden he sat down next to her and held out his hand. If Rick had spared a moment to think about it, he would have been more than a little surprised by his sudden and impulsive action. Katie was surprised at his action and stared at his extended hand. She bit on her lip nervously.

"Hi my name's Rick."

"K...Katie...Kate." Katie stammered. She shook Rick's hand.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Katie Kate."

"It's just Kate."

"Well, It's just Kate..." Rick smiled.

"Kate!"

"Well, whatever your name is Kate, I'm very pleased to meet you."

Kate returned Rick's smile and now with him sitting next to her she saw the warmth of his blue eyes. Suddenly she realised that she was still holding his hand. Quickly she took back her hand and tried hard not to blush. Rick continued to smile at her. Kate had to look away to stop herself from a blushing under his gaze.

She did not want to admit it but her friend Lanie might have been right. She kind of liked him. He had stood up to Will, coming to her rescue, not that she really needed it, but he did it anyway without even knowing her. And then there were those blue eyes of his that had sent a flutter through her stomach. Despite her best efforts Kate could feel her cheeks heating up.

XXXXX

_**Thoughts on this effort?**_

_**Con **_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Aren't you excited?" Rick asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Rick had been sitting there beside Kate in silence for some minutes looking at her and liking what he saw but feeling nervous not knowing what to say or do.

Kate turned away from the window.

"Excited?"

"Yeah."

"Excited about what? Sitting next to you?" Kate raised her eyebrows at him.

Rick could not help but grin. He liked her sassyness. Without realising it his nervousness started to fade away.

"Well, that too." Rick shot back with a grin. "No I mean, aren't you excited about going to see Santa?"

"We are not going to see Santa." Kate said firmly.

"We are so going to visit Santa." Rick replied.

Katie shook her head.

"We're going to see Santa." Rick repeated, his excitement growing. "This is the Polar Express! The next stop is the North Pole."

Katie could not help but roll her eyes and shake her head at Rick's excited announcement.

"Have you fallen on your head or something?" Katie questioned.

"No."

You could have fooled me." Kate quipped. "What makes you think that we're going to see Santa?"

A bright smile appeared on Rick's face as he looked at the sceptical Kate.

"Observe, if you will." Rick announced with a wave of his hand in a theatrical flourish that would have made his mother proud. "All the passengers in this car are children."

Kate followed the wave of his hand and regarded the passengers. Sure enough there were only children in the seats. She could not recall seeing too many adults.

"And the only adults are the conductor and the porters." Kate said jumping in before Rick could get a chance.

Kate almost smiled at the startled look on Rick's face.

"That's right." He said nodding his head.

"And you think we're going to visit Santa?"

"Yes."

Kate allowed a frown to appear on her face as she looked at Rick.

"Only one problem with that, hotshot."

"What's that?"

"Santa doesn't exist."

Rick let out an exaggerated shocked gasp of surprise. For some moments he stared opened mouth at Kate.

"You don't believe in Santa?" He breathed.

"No."

Rick had to shake his head. He could not believe that he had met someone who did not believe in Santa.

"Oh, let me guess, you don't believe in fate, soul mates?"

"No." Kate said.

"Unicorns? Fairies? Double rainbows? He said. "Didn't you ever think your dolls used to get up at night and play with your toys?"

"Nope, sorry." Kate shook her head.

"Oh, I get it. You were one of those annoying five year olds who stopped believing in Santa Claus because you figured out he couldn't travel faster than the speed of light." Rick concluded.

"I was three, and we didn't have a chimney." Kate retorted.

Rick had to concede that she made a fair point there but he was not ready to give up on her. He started to marshal further arguments to back up his case.

"I suppose you don't believe in magic either?"

"You mean, magic tricks?" Kate replied. She did not give him the opportunity to respond to the question because she continued speaking. "My granddad used to do magic tricks and he showed me how he did them. There's no magic once you know how it's done."

"I'm not talking about illusions and prestidigi..."

"Prestidigitation?" Kate offered.

Rick looked at her in wonder. He prided himself on his vocabulary. He was always winning spelling bees at school because of his extensive reading. That she knew the word and could pronounce it properly...

"That's so cool." He told her excitedly.

"Rick, why is it important to you that I believe all this stuff about fates, soul mates and Santa Claus?" Kate demanded ignoring his sudden burst of awe.

Rick recovered from his moment of awe and considered her question. He looked at her intently.

"Because if you don't believe even in the possibility of magic, you'll never ever find it." he said quietly.

Kate looked away from him and studied what was out the window. There was no magic for her. She had stopped believing in magic the night they had found her mother dead in that alley. Christmas had been a special time of the year for her. It was made special because of her mother. She could feel the tears start to well up but she forced them away. No she was not going to cry in front of this boy, she told herself firmly. She took a deep breath and banished those fond memories. Exhaling slowly she turned back to look at Rick.

She found him looking at her, a gentle smile on his face and curiosity in his warm blue eyes. She felt another flutter in her stomach. Kate looked back to the window and stared out at the dark forest the train was passing through. The trees were covered in snow.

Kate thought she was being foolish. She found that she liked talking to him. Slowly she turned back to look at Rick.

"What were you writing?" Kate asked.

"Huh?"

"I saw you writing. What were you writing?"

She had been curious. Seeing him writing away in his notebook totally oblivious to all the noise and activity all around him. She found it strange that he could ignore everything around him. She could not understand how he could keep writing. Most boys would have joined in the games they would not have remained in their seat writing. Most of the boys she knew would not have busy writing.

Kate saw the hesitation on Rick's face. For a moment she thought he was not going to answer or to brush off her question.

"You're going to laugh at me." Rick said in a low voice.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you will."

"I promise I wont." Kate assured him.

Rick regarded Kate for a moment and saw the sincerity there. Much to his surprise he found that he wanted to tell her.

"I'm writing a Christmas Mystery story." Rick informed her.

"Really?"

Rick nodded his head.

"Can I read it?"

"I haven't finished it yet."

"Tell me about it then." Kate requested.

Rick gave Kate a questioning look not quite believing that someone wanted to know about a story he was writing. The only people who had shown any interest in his stories had been his mother and one or two teachers at school. Few of his friends had shown any interest in what he wrote. Those that did only ended up laughing at him, making fun of him and what he had written. Yet here was this pretty girl showing an interest.

Kate on seeing Rick's hesitation gave him an encouraging smile and a nod of her head. Rick took a breath and then told her about the story he was writing, about a boy who visits Santa at the North Pole who becomes involved in solving the mystery of Santa's missing magic sleigh.

Kate found herself being drawn into the story Rick was telling. She saw that Rick was a good storyteller. He painted with broad brush strokes but she found herself wondering who had stolen Santa's magic sleigh.

"So, what do you think?" Rick asked expectantly. He felt a little nervous as he waited for her response.

"I'd really like to read the story when you finish it." Kate said.

"You like it?" Rick could not keep the surprise from his voice nor his face.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

Kate smiled at Rick's astonishment. She leaned closer to him.

"Can I make a suggestion?" She asked.

"Sure." Rick nodded his head.

"I wouldn't have Mrs Claus as the bad guy."

"You wouldn't?"

Kate shook her head.

"Why not?" Rick asked.

"Too obvious." Kate informed him. "Besides why would she steal the sleigh? I mean what's in it for her? Why would she do it? She's happily married to Santa I can't see any reason for her to turn bad, you know?"

A thoughtful look settled on Rick's face as he considered what Kate had just said. The more he thought about it the more Kate's suggestion made sense. He looked at Kate.

"Who would you suggest?" He asked her.

"The Chief Elf." Kate said simply.

"Why?"

"He's been Santa's right hand man since the very beginning, he has been the one who has to make sure that everything runs smoothly, he's the one responsible for loading Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. He resents that Santa gets all the glory."

"Feels unappreciated." Rick said nodding his head.

"Wants to teach Santa a lesson." Kate added.

"A lesson in humility."

"To appreciate those around you."

Rick and Kate smiled at each other feeling pleased with themselves.

"I see you didn't waste any time, girlfriend." Said a familiar voice.

XXXXX

_**Thoughts?**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kate was startled by Lanie's amused tone of voice. She looked up to find her friend wearing a big knowing smile on her face. Javi and Kevin too had smirks on their faces. Kate felt her cheeks turn a bright red.

Castle looked at the new arrivals and then at Kate. He saw her face turning a shade of red. While he rather like it, thinking it cute, he had a feeling that Kate's friends were going to start teasing her. He forced a big smile to his face and got to his feet. He rescued her once before, he could do it again, he thought to himself.

"Hi, I'm Rick Rodgers." He announced, drawing their attention away from Kate.

The smug grin on the girl's face faltered a little at Rick's action. She recovered quickly though.

"Pleased to meet you Rick Rodgers. I'm Lanie." Lanie replied, she half turned and pointed to Javi. "This is Javi and that's Kevin."

"I'm pleased to meet you all." Rick said

Rick saw that Kevin seemed friendly enough exchanging a greeting, but Javi remained reticent giving Rick a glare for reasons Rick could not quite fathom.

"You mind if I sit down, Writer Boy?" Lanie said, motioning at the seat Rick had vacated.

Rick glanced at Kate and saw her give him a look as if to say that is was okay. Flashing her quick grin in return he stepped into the aisle and allowed Lanie to sit down next to Kate. Almost immediately the two girls huddled together and started whispering. Actually, it was Lanie who was doing whispering and Kate doing the listening.

Javi and Kevin had taken the seats in front with Javi taking the window seat. Rick stood beside them in the aisle. "Hey, you guys excited about going to visit Santa?" Rick asked.

"You bet." Kevin replied happily.

"Yeah."

"So what are you going to ask Santa to bring you?"

"Huh?" Kevin looked up at Rick.

"Don't you know that you get to ask Santa for what ever present you want?" Rick said.

"No." Kevin replied hesitantly. He turned to look at his friend Javi. "Did you know that, man?"

Javi shook his head. He looked up at the smiling Rick. "First I've heard of it."

"Well it's true." Rick assured the boys.

Both boys scoffed at the assertion. Undeterred Rick enthusiastically told his two new friends about children who ride the Polar Express to the North Pole and get to meet Santa Claus could get to ask the big guy in red to get them whatever present that wanted and Santa would grant them that present.

Kate watched Rick as he spun this story and could not help but smile. He really did have the gift of storytelling she thought to herself. That he was spinning a story about someone that did not exist was beside the point, she liked the way his voice sounded and the inflections he used as he told the story. Yes, he was a good storyteller. It did not matter that Santa did not exist, the way Rick told the story she could just almost believe. Almost.

"Are you listening to me, girl?" Lanie hissed.

"Uh-huh." Kate said absently.

Lanie looked from her friend up to the boy named Rick as he weaved the story that had drawn in both Javi and Kevin. She looked back at Kate. Lanie almost laughed at what she was witnessing. It had been a long time since she had seen her friend smiling like that. Lanie turned her attention back to Rick and listened to the rest of his story.

"Well I want Santa to give me the latest copy of Halo." Kevin announced shortly after Rick had finished his story.

"Halo?" Javi spluttered. "Why would you want a lame game like that. No, Call of Duty is the way to go, bro."

Rick grinned to himself as he watched Javi and Kevin arguing over which was better Halo or Call of Duty. He saw a pretty blonde haired girl come up the aisle. He was about to step aside to let her pass through but was surprised when she stopped and looked at Kevin.

"Hi Kevin."

"Oh, hi Jenny." Kevin stammered

"I'm sitting over there near the front." Jenny said smiling at Kevin. "You want to come over?"

"I...I'm with my friends."

Rick saw the look of disappointment that crossed Jenny's face. Quickly she forced a smile to her face.

"Okay, Kevin." she said. "If you change your mind, I'm over there. See you."

"Yeah, see you Jenny."

Rick could not help but frown as he watched Jenny returning to her seat. Turning his head he looked down and saw Kevin watching the departing girl. He could not help but wonder why Kevin did not take up the offer Jenny had made to him. He looked across to Javi and saw that Kevin's friend was looking at Kevin with a disbelieving look on his face.

"I think she likes him." Rick said to Javi.

"Yeah." Javi agreed.

Rick looked down at Kevin.

"I think she likes you, Kevin."

"What? No, she doesn't." Kevin said hurriedly.

"Yeah she does." Rick insisted.

Kevin shook his head.

"She came over to speak to you, she didn't even say hi to me or Javi."

A thoughtful look settled on Kevin's face as he considered what Rick had said.

"And she invited you over to sit with her not us, bro." Javi added.

"You think I said go over?" Kevin asked hesitantly.

Kevin looked a little nervous but his eyes continued to look down the length of the car to where Jenny was sitting.

"Do you know what I think, Kevin?" Rick asked.

"What's that?"

"I think you should go over and talk to her."

"Should I?"

"Yeah, you should."

"Yeah, you should, bro." Javi added.

"Maybe I will." Kvein said, face brightening.

Kevin rose from his seat and set off down the aisle to where Jenny was sitting.

"Our work is done." Rick beamed.

Javi gave Rick a friendlier smirk.

Rick looked back at Kate and saw her in conversation with Lanie. He excuse himself and returned to his own seat. He picked up his note book and opened it to the page where had last written on. He read over the last paragraph. Quickly he started writing. He wanted to incorporate the suggestion that Kate had made. He wanted to finish the story so that he could show it to her.

XXXXX

_**Your thoughts would be appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rick pulled the handle of the toilet and let out a sigh of relief. He had been so intent in finishing the story that he had been writing that he had almost had an embarrassing accident. If might have happened if he had not taken notice of his body's urgent demand that he go to the toilet. Almost at the last moment he noted the urgency and he fled from his seat. There was a moment of panic when he found he did not know where the toilet was. Thankfully some one told him there was a toilet in the observation car. He could not get there fast enough.

Rick washed his hands thoroughly and then dried his hands on the towel that hung on the wrack beside the mirror. He checked his appearance in the mirror one final time, making sure that his hair was in place. He could have used a comb, he thought to himself as he brushed his hair back into place. Appearances were important his mother always said and he could not disagree with that adage.

He switched off the light in the toilet as he stepped out and into the observation car. The observation car was empty which he found a little surprising. The windows of the observation car were much larger than the ones in the passenger cars allowing a better view of the passing scenery and the seats ran the length of the car rather than side by side as in the other cars.

Rick walked to the middle of the car and knelt on a seat and peered out the window. He noticed that the train was slowly making its way up a hill but its speed had not slowed down. A schedule had to be kept, he reminded himself. The train was passing along row upon rows of tall snow covered fir trees. Christmas trees. An amused smile leaped to his face as he pictured in his mind all these trees covered in tinsel and twinkling lights. That would be so cool. He wondered if it was possible to do such a thing. Maybe one day he might try doing it just to see what it would be like. It would so very cool.

Rick heard the door to the observation car open and the familiar sound of in rushing air but he did not take much notice of it. He was still staring out the window at the fir trees imagining all sorts of decorations they could be covered with to celebrate the Yuletide season. What a wonderful sight it would be, he thought. Yeah one of these day he might just do it, Rick concluded.

He managed to rein in his runaway imagination as he remembered he had a story to finish. He had to finish it for Kate. He was still a little amazed that Kate wanted to read his story. No one had ever taken much interest in the stories that he wrote much less actually want to read what he had written. There was a part of him that wanted to impress her.

Rick pushed himself off the seat and stood up. Turning around he pulled up short.

"I told you we'd finish it later." Will announced.

Rick looked at the smirking future G-man or super villain as he stood at the front of the car. He had his arms folded across his chest. Rick felt his heart sink. There was no way of escaping he realised. Will was blocking his only way of escape.

"So it's later, is it?" Rick said.

Will nodded his head and unfolded his arms letting them drop to his sides. He started to move slowly towards Rick.

"So are you going to fight or are you chicken?" Will said.

Rick knew he was many things but he did not think he was a chicken. Still all the same he did not want to fight but from the looks of things he was not going to get out of it. As Will approached Rick took a step backwards.

"I don't think I'm any kind of poultry." Rick said.

"Huh?" Will said, his smile faltering a little.

So not the sharpest tool in the shed, Rick thought to himself as he saw Will's reaction. Perhaps he could use his words to diffuse the situation?

"So, you think you can make a move on my girlfriend, eh?" Will said.

"She's not your girlfriend." Rick replied quickly.

"Says who?" Will challenged. "You?"

"Says Kate."

Will laughed loudly at Rick's remark.

"Listen bud, don't listen to what she says, she's my girlfriend."

"No she's not."

Will continued to move closer to Rick.

"Yes she is." Will said firmly.

"There are some people in this world who just don't seem to get the hint." Rick told him. "They're intellectually challenged, you know?"

The smile on Will's face dropped as he weighed up what Rick had just said.

"Hey, you callin' me dumb?" Will said angrily.

Okay, maybe using words may not have been the best course of action, Rick thought to himself, seeing Will's sudden rise to anger. Still if he kept him talking perhaps someone might come to break this up. He had not forgotten Conductor Montgomery's timely intervention the last time. Perhaps it might happen again.

"I said are you calling me dumb?" Will demanded.

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "If the shoe fits."

Will closed the distance between them in a couple of quick strides. Until he was standing a few inches from Rick. He shoved Rick in the chest sending him backwards a couple of steps. It was a hard shove. Rick took a couple a couple of steps forward. Will grinned as he shoved Rick again.

This time Rick was ready for it and he did not move.

"You going to do something or you going to talk and shove all day?" Rick told him.

That is not the way to stretch out the time, a tiny voice in the back of Rick's head told him. He could not help but agree but he was rapidly realising that this situation was going to end up in blows.

"Okay, sport, you can have the first shot." Will announced.

"That's magnanimous of you."

"Hey, you calling me names again?" Will said angrily.

"No."

"Yes you are." Will said as he took a step closer to Rick.

Rick started preparing himself but at that moment the train passed through a narrow canyon. He looked at the window and saw the sides of the canyon were very close the train. From out of the corner of his eye he saw the fist coming. He started to move out of the path of the fist but he was not quick enough.

Rick felt as if he had been punched by a block of granite. Pain exploded along the length of his jaw and his vision turned blurry as tears filled his eyes. As his brain tried to process that, his world turned upside down as his legs turned to rubber and collapsed underneath him. He fell to the floor hard but he did not feel that pain it was his jaw that was hurting the most.

"Stay away from my girlfriend." Will said angrily.

"She's not your girlfriend." Rick wheezed back.

"Stay away from her." Will growled.

Rick was still struggling to find his bearings as the world around his swirled around uncontrollably. He thought that Will was going finish what he had started but nothing came. He heard someone calling out Will's name, telling him that they had to go because someone was coming. He heard the sound of scurrying feet.

For how long he lay on the floor Rick did not know. He opened his eyes and wiped the tears with the back of his hand. When everything had stopped spinning he slowly forced himself into a sitting position. Gingerly he reached for his jaw and winced at the jolt of pain he felt as he rubbed the wound. It was going to hurt for a while of that he was sure. It would not be too long before a bruise appeared. He would have a time of it trying to explain to his mother how he got it.

As his vision cleared he saw a pair of slippered feet standing in front of him. Lifting up his eyes he saw a concerned filled Kate looking down at him. He almost let out a groan. It was bad enough losing a fight, going down after one punch but to have his humiliation witnessed by a girl, a girl that he liked was almost a little too much for his wounded pride to take.

"They say the pen is mightier than the sword." Rick quipped, resorting to humour to hide his humiliation. He rubbed at his jaw, stopping suddenly at the jolt of pain that surged through his jaw. He winced.

Kate nodded her head.

"Two things wrong there, champ." Kate said.

Kate held out her hand to him. Rick stared at the outstretched hand and then his eyes travelled up to her. Amusement twinkled in her eyes but there was a gentle smile on her lips. Rick looked at her hand again. He reached out and took hold of the offered hand and allowed himself to be helped to his feet.

His legs were still a little wobbily. Kate threw his arm around her shoulder and put her arm around his waist to give him support and keep him standing.

"You were using your mouth and not and not a pen." Kate pointed out. "And he used his fist and not a sword."

Rick frowned.

"You saw what happened?" he asked..

"Yeah."

"Oh." Could things get any worse, he wondered.

"I thought it was sweet."

"You did?" Rick said surprised. "What, me getting punched out?"

"No, not that." Kate said with a laugh.

"What then?"

"You standing up to Will."

"Yeah, well."

"A word to the wise, Rick." Kate said.

"Yes?"

"I can look after myself, I don't need a champion to defend my honour."

Despite the pain that flared along his jaw, Rick smiled. Kate used the word 'champion' to mean someone who defends any person or a cause. He did not want to tell her that he had no choice in the matter. Will had come spoiling for a fight and had cornered him and he had to fight.

"Duly noted." Rick informed her.

Kate looked at Rick and saw him grinning at her.

"Come on, let's get you back to your seat." She said.

Rick nodded his head.

They started to walk slowly along the car toward the door. Rick found that the strength had returned to his legs and he could make it back to his seat on his own steam but he liked having Kate helping him.

"You smell, nice." Rick blurted out suddenly.

Kate shot him a look. "Rick." she scolded.

"What? It's true."

Kate looked away from him concentrating on the path ahead. Rick saw her face starting to colour.

"I think Will hit you harder than you thought." Kate remarked.

"Care to kiss it better?" Rick said pointing to spot on his jaw where he had been punched.

Kate turned her head to look at him, her eyes narrowed.

"I guess not." Rick said sheepishly. "It's was worth a shot."

"Do you want a matching bruise on the other side of your face?"

"You know Kate, you're going to have to work on your bedside manner." Rick chuckled.

The sound of Kate's laughter was like a soothing balm to him.

XXXXX

_**Your thoughts would be appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Conductor Montgomery entered the car and paused, surveying the scene in front of him. The kids playing in the aisle on seeing the conductor standing there quickly returned to their seats.

"Tickets please." Conductor Montgomery announced. "Everyone have your tickets ready for punching.

Kids quickly dived for their tickets, holding them up for the Conductor Montgomery to punch. He moved steadily along the length of the car, thanking the kids as he went along. Javi held up his ticket for the conductor to punch as did Lanie. Conductor Montgomery nodded his thanks and moved to where Kate was sitting and looking out the window.

"Your ticket, young lady."

Kate was startled out of her reveries and looked up at Conductor Montgomery. She saw him holding up the ticket punch. Nodding her head Kate reached into the pocket of her robe and produced the golden ticket. She held it out to the conductor. Conductor Montgomery took the ticket and with a flourish punched the ticket. When he finished he returned the ticket. Kate looked at the ticket and saw that the letters B E had been punched into her ticket. She shoved the ticket into the pocket of her robe and thought nothing more of it.

Conductor Montgomery turned on his heels to face Rick.

"Your ticket, Mr Rodgers." Conductor Montgomery said.

Rick was so involved in his writing that he did not hear the conductor. His pen flew across the page as he wrote word after word and sentence after sentence. He wanted to finish the story before they reached the North Pole so that he could show it to Kate.

"Mr Rodgers!" Conductor Montgomery barked.

Rick looked up startled.

"Your ticket, Mr Rodgers, if you please."

"Oh, yes. Sure." Rick said with a smile.

Rick set aside his note book and reached into the pocket of his robe. The smile faded from his face when he realised that the ticket was not there. He dug deeper into the pocket but still the ticket was not there. He was certain that he had placed the ticket in the pocket. A worried look settled on Rick's face as he searched about him for the missing ticket.

"I don't have all day, Mr Rodgers." Conductor Montgomery warned.

"I...I...think I've lost it." Rick said frantically.

Rick got up and checked under the seats but the ticket was not there. Slowly he stood up and looked at the now frowning conductor.

"Your ticket?" Conductor Montgomery asked.

"I've lost it."

"Oh dear." The frown on Conductor Montgomery's face deepened.

Rick looked up at the man with a pleading look on his face. He did not know what was going to happen to him but from the look on the conductor's face he could tell that whatever it was it would not be good.

"Come with me, Mr Rodgers." Conductor Montgomery ordered.

With a heavy heart Rick moved slowly into the aisle. He looked across and saw Kate staring at him. He saw the concern on her face. He gave her a shrug of her shoulders. He could feel the looks from the other kids but he did not bother to look around. He did not need to see their faces. He tried to force a smile to his face.

Kate did not know what the reason was that made her jump to her feet, maybe it was because of the sad puppy dog look on Rick's face or maybe it was because of the injustice of it. It did not matter and she certainly did not dwell on the reasons.

"Wait!" She called out.

Conductor Montgomery had taken a couple of steps towards the back of the car. He paused and slowly turned around to look at Kate. He gave her a questioning look.

"He had a ticket." Kate said.

"He does not have it now." Conductor Montgomery said.

"He needed a ticket to board the train." Kate pointed out. "I needed a ticket to board the train. I had to show it to you before I could climb aboard."

Conductor Montgomery nodded his head.

"You saw his ticket and therefore he has a ticket, and he can stay."

Rick stared at Kate with a look of awe on his face. He could not believe that Kate was trying to defend him. He could not keep the smile on his face.

Conductor Montgomery regarded Kate with a hint of amusement in dancing in his eyes. He was impressed with her. He was impressed that she had stood up to defend someone she hardly knew.

"You make a very valid point, Miss Beckett." Conductor Montgomery said. "However, the regulations say that a ticket must be presented for punching to make it valid. Mr Rodgers does not have a ticket to be punched, therefore he does not have a ticket, and as result he must come with me."

"That's not fair!" Kate stated.

"Regulations are regulations." Conductor Montgomery declared. He glanced at Rick. "Come with me, Mr Rodgers."

Rick gave Kate a smile and a shrug of his shoulders. He also mouthed the words 'thank you' before he slowly followed Conductor Montgomery out of the car. Kate slumped back down in her seat.

"He's going to throw him off the train." Javi remarked.

"No he's not." Lanie said.

"Sure he is." Javi insisted. "He doesn't have a ticket."

"Javi!" Lanie hissed, then nodded in Kate's direction. Javi looked at Kate and saw the tears welling in her eyes. He got the hint.

"Don't worry, they'll slow the train down before they throw him off." he said helpfully.

Lanie glared at Javi. She slapped him upside of his head.

"Ow, why did you do that for?" Javi complained as he glared at Lanie.

"Trying to get some brains in that thick head of yours." Lanie retorted.

Kate did not think Conductor Montgomery was going to throw Rick off the train that was too hard to believe but then again she could not be sure. One thing was certain she did not want him thrown off the train or get into trouble for not having his ticket. But where could he have lost his ticket?

Kate recalled to mind that time when she had lost her favourite doll and had gone to her mother in tears telling her that she could not find her favourite doll. Her mother had sat her down and asked where Kate had the doll last. Kate could not remember. Then her mother suggested that she back track and check all the places she had been with her doll. Kate had then retraced her steps and in next to no time she had found her doll sitting on bathroom sink where she had left it when she had washed her hands.

Jumping to her feet Kate decided she would retrace Rick's steps. She immediately started searching the seat beside hers where he had been sitting and talking to her. She checked the cushion and even the back of the seat. No ticket. She then ducked down to check underneath the seats. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted the gold coloured ticket.

Reaching under the seat Kate grabbed the ticket and quickly scrambled to her feet.

"I found the ticket!" Kate exclaimed holding up the ticket for her friends to see. "I found his ticket!"

"Probably too late." Javi said. "He's already been thrown off. Oww!"

"Javiar Esposito, I swear if you say another word, I'mma gonna smack you until you cry like a little girl." Lanie warned.

Kate ran to the end of the car and flung the door open. She rushed into the observation car. She found that they weren't there. The only people in the observation car were Kevin and Jenny. They looked up a little startled at the sudden interruption.

"Where are they?" Kate asked hurriedly.

"Where's who?" Kevin asked.

"Rick and the conductor."

"No one's been in here." Jenny said.

Kate frowned and wondered where the conductor and Rick could have gone. They could not have simply just disappeared. Kate nodded her thanks to Kevin and Jenny and stepped onto the small platform between the two cars. She was about to go back into the passenger car when she stopped and looked at the ladder on the side of the car that caught her attention.

Did they climbed up to the roof, Kate wondered to herself as she stared at the ladder. They had not gone into the observation car and they had not gone through the passenger car because she would have seen them. They must have gone onto the roof, she concluded.

Shoving the gold ticket into the other pocket of her robe, Kate moved to the ladder and started to climb it. She shivered at the wind and the cold but she continued climbing. She had to find them and she had to give Rick his ticket.

Reaching the roof Kate had to pause a moment at the top of the ladder to adjust to the onrushing wind. Snow and sleet was falling and blowing all about. The cold wind stung her eyes. The roof was covered in a blanket of snow. Her heart lifted a little when she spotted two sets of footprints in the snow. Rick and the conductor had come this way. Slowly and carefully Kate hauled herself onto the roof.

Rising to her feet Kate peered into the distance along the length of the train. She could not see any sign of Rick or the conductor. Cautiously she started forward, her feet sinking a little in the snow. They could not have gone too far, surely.

As she walked along the roof of the train Kate noticed that a fog had descended obscuring her vision. For a moment Kate thought about turning back. That thought was quickly dismissed from her head and pushed on.

Having progressed a short distance the curtain of fog lifted a little. She heard a guitar being strummed, a Christmas tune wafted towards her, a tune she knew well. At first Kate thought her ears were playing tricks with her. In the next moment she thought her eyes were playing tricks with her.

She thought there was a camp fire burning brightly about twenty feet away. The more she stared at the sight the more she realised she was not seeing things. There was a camp fire up ahead. Kate picked up her pace towards the fire.

XXXXX

_**Thoughts?**_

_**Con **_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Kate approached the camp fire and as the snow eased she saw a man sitting on a packing case in front of the fire. The man was dressed in clothes that were threadbare and patched up numerous times. He face was unshaven and he wore a cap and fingerless woollen gloves. He was strumming a battered looking guitar, a wistful look on his face as he played. Suddenly he stopped playing and looked up from the fire to find Kate standing there. He swung the guitar over his shoulder.

"Is there something I can do for you?" The hobo said in a deep gravelly voice.

"I'm looking for someone." Kate said hesitantly.

"Is that right?" the hobo grinned. "Ain't we all, kid."

"I'm looking for a boy."

"A b...boy?"

The Hobo burst into laughter. Kate glared at the man. The hobo reined in his laughter and squinted up at Kate.

"Ain't you a little young to be chasing boys?"

"No, not like that." Kate said hurriedly, feeling her cheeks start to burn. "I have his ticket." She held up the golden ticket for him to see.

"Well, lookie, lookie here." The Hobo said as he took the ticket from Kate and inspected it. "This is an official. Authentic ticket to ride."

The Hobo held the ticket out to Kate.

"You better keep this in a safe place kid."

Kate took the ticket back.

"If I was you..." The hobo said and paused. He lifted up his leg and removed his shoe. A shoe which had a hole in the sole. "I keep all my valuables right here. Experience shows that this is the safest place."

Kate watched as the hobo put his shoe back on. She was not about to put the ticket in her slipper. Instead she shoved it deep into the pocket of her dressing gown. The hobo lifted an eyebrow in her direction and grinned.

"Not that I have much use for those." The hobo said.

"Tickets?"

"Yeah. I ride for free." He declared.

Kate looked at him in surprise.

"Oh yeah, yeah. I hop aboard this rattler any time I feels like it." The hobo said. "I own this train, yeah. The King of the Pol Ex." he let out a gravelly laugh. "In fact I'm the King of the North Pole."

Kate stared at him not quite sure what to make of this man.

"Oh, where's my manners?" He said suddenly. He produced another wooden crate and set in on the other side of the fire.

"Sit, sit, take a load off."

Kate slowly sat down on the crate, giving the man a nod of thanks. The warmth of the fire was welcome and certainly chased away the surrounding cold. She resisted the urge to put her hands close to the flames to warm them up.

"You got a name kid?"

"Kate."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Kate. My name is Royce."

"Pleased to meet you, Royce." Kate said.

Royce picked up the coffee pot from the fire and held it up for Kate to see.

"Would you like a cup of Joe?" He asked. "Perfect for a cold winter's night."

Kate consented with a nod of her head. The cup of chocolate that she had a little earlier was making her feel a little sleepy. She would not mind a cup of coffee. She watched as Royce picked up a mug and poured some into it. He held the mug to her. She took it and held the mug in two hands feeling the warmth of the coffee seeping into her frozen fingers.

Kate brought the mug to her lips and took a sip of the coffee. She almost let out a sigh of pleasure at the bitter, unsweetened taste rolled over her tongue. She immediately took another sip, a bigger sip of the coffee. This is exactly what she needed, she thought to herself.

"What about Santa?" she asked. "Isn't he the King of the North Pole?"

"You mean this guy?"

Royce reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a Santa hat and pulled it on his head. Kate noticed the Santa hat was a little tattered and dirty. Royce leaned a little forward fixing his gaze on Kate.

"What exactly is your persuasion on the big man?" He asked. "Since you brought him up."

Kate stared back at Royce not knowing what to say in reply. She took a big sip of her coffee using the moment to try and come up with a response to the man's question. "Well I...I..." She stammered. "I want to believe."

Kate surprised herself at the admission. She really did want to believe but had found she couldn't. Not with what she knew but this was the first time she had ever said to anyone that she did want to believe.

"But you don't want to be bamboozled?" Royce said.

Kate shook her head.

"You don't wanna be led down the primrose path? You don't wanna be conned or duped, have the wool pulled over your eyes. Hoodwinked. You don't wanna be taken for a ride, railroaded. Seeing is believing. Am I right?"

Kate found herself nodding her head. Royce gave her a small smile and nodded his head as well.

"But what about this train?" Kate asked suddenly.

"What about it, kid?"

"We're all really going to the North Pole..."

"Aren't we?" Royce said.

"Aren't we?"

"Are you saying that this is all just a dream?"

"You said it, kid. Not me."

Kate brought up the mug to her mouth and took another big sip of her coffee. She was feeling confused. Part of her thought that this was all a fantastic dream and the other part of her thought that this was all very real. Rick seemed very real.

"Let's go find that boy of yours." Royce announced suddenly as if he had read her mind.

"He's not my boy." Kate retorted crossly.

"Really?" Royce seemed surprised. "You seem to be going to an awful lot of trouble."

"I'm just returning the ticket that he lost."

Royce nodded his head but there was a knowing smile on his face. He rose to his feet and bent down to pick up the coffee pot. He poured what remained of the coffee over the fire extinguishing it. Kate reluctantly tossed the remaining coffee in her mug onto the hissing fire as well and passed the empty mug to Royce.

In a matter of moments Royce had gathered what few belongings he owned and had them wrapped in a table cloth and had it hanging from the end of a pole. He turned to start walking but paused and looked back at Kate.

"One other thing, kid." he said.

"What?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

Kate shook her head firmly.

"Interesting." Royce mused.

Royce turned and started to trudge away within a couple of paces he had disappeared into the snow and fog. Kate stared wide eyed not believing the man had simply disappeared. She started forward going after him and came to a halt staring into the fog and mist. She could not see Royce. She could not hear him either. How did he disappear just like that, Kate thought to herself.

"Wait!" She called out. "Royce, wait for me!"

There was no response to her call just the rushing wind. Kate did not know what to do. She was in two minds, to go forward or to turn back. She still did not know where Rick had gone and was a little worried that he might have been thrown off the train.

Kate heard the sound of the train's steam whistle. She noticed that the train had slowed down a little and it was beginning to climb upwards. It must be climbing up a hill she concluded as the incline began to increase. What to do, she thought to herself.

In the distance through the mist Kate saw a wavering light. It was nothing like the golden shimmering light that had drawn her out of her apartment, this one was paler, it grew stronger. A moment later through the mist Kate saw Royce approaching. He had on his feet a pair of wooden skis and in his hands he held ski poles.

"Kid!" Royce shouted. "Get your head out of the clouds."

The inclined of the hill the train was climbing had steepened considerably. Kate felt herself leaning backwards.

"Come on, kid. There's no sleepwalking on the Polar Express." Royce said.

Royce came to a halt and slowly turned himself around facing towards the front. He looked over his shoulder.

"Climb onto the skis, kid."

Kate found herself moving to where Royce was standing. Carefully she put her feet on the wooden skis.

"Now, hold onto the poles kid." Royce instructed. Kate did as she was told.

"That boy you're chasing must have moved on ahead."

"I'm not chasing him." Kate said firmly.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Kate said. "I'm just returning his lost ticket."

"I see." Royce chuckled.

Kate turned her head to look up Royce and shot him a glare.

"We gotta hightail it to the hog." Royce informed her as he started moving forward on the skis.

"The hog?" Kate asked.

"The engine, the engine you tenderfoot." Royce said. "We gotta make the engine before we hit Flat Top Tunnel."

"How come?" Kate asked.

"So many questions." Royce sighed. He leaned down a little and looked at Kate. "There is but one inch of clearance between the roof of this rattler and the roof of Flat Top Tunnel. Savvy?"

Kate nodded her head in understanding. If they were caught on the roof of the train when they reached the tunnel then they would be thrown off or something worse. They moved slowly forwards. Kate noticed that the train had crested the top of the hill. Her eyes widened in alarm when the mist and fog cleared to reveal a massive drop on the other side of the hill.

"It's just the run up to hump, kid." Royce remarked. He stared at the looming drop. "This will be interesting."

The forward carriages and engine fell down the drop and the train began to increase speed as it raced down the tracks. Kate felt her stomach start to make its way towards her mouth. Her heart was beating rapidly.

"There's only one trick to this, Kid." Royce called out. "When I say jump, you jump. Savvy?"

Kate nodded her head.

Suddenly Kate found herself being propelled rapidly along the roof of the carriage. She let out a scream as they raced downwards.

XXXXX

_**Thoughts?**_

_**Con **_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kate clung to the ski poles for dear life as she and Royce raced forwards. She hated herself a little for screaming yet she did not have time to think on it too much. She saw the space between the two cars when they were almost on top of them.

"Jump!" Royce called out.

Kate launched herself upwards and felt the skis lift off the snow and cleared the space. They came down with a thump but continued racing down the length of the roof. Her heart and stomach were in her mouth and she hardly had time to get over the first jump before the next gap loomed up.

"Jump!"

Kate jumped again. The landing was a little harder this time but their forward momentum was not hindered. Onwards they raced. Kate stared ahead and in the distance she saw the decline level out and beyond that she saw the opening of Flat Top Tunnel.

"Jump!" Royce shouted.

They jumped over the gap between carriages. Kate saw that they had a couple more carriages to clear to reach the engine but the tunnel entrance was approaching rapidly. The train had picked up speed on the decline and there was no signs of it slowing down. Kate could feel her heart beating in her ears.

"Jump!"

Kate had barely time to think as she rose up and cleared another gap. Her eyes widened in alarm as the tunnel approached. The whistle shrieked loudly as it raced for the tunnel entrance. She did not think they were going to make it.

"Jump!"

Kate threw herself into the air and landed heavily back on the roof of the next carriage. There was a moment she found herself unbalanced and she feared that she might topple off, quickly she corrected herself and crouched low and stared at the fast approaching tender. The train had reached the bottom of the decline and had levelled out and had picked up even more speed.

Lifting her eyes a little she saw the entrance to Flat Top tunnel. Its wide black maw seemed to be beckoning the speeding train. Lowering her eyes she saw the coal tender was almost right there.

"Jump!" Royce shouted.

Kate let out a gasp of shocked surprise. She was no longer on Royce's skis. He was no longer there. Kate had no time to think about what had become of the old hobo. With eyes wide in alarm she saw the front of the train plunge through the entrance to Flat Top Tunnel.

Kate closed her eyes and jumped. She launched herself forward towards the coal tender. For a moment she felt herself flying through the air. A huge roar echoed in her ears as the rest of the train rushed into the tunnel. Kate landed with a crash into the coal in the tender almost knocking the wind out of her. She tried to stop herself from slipping down. The coal gave way and she rolled forward to fall face down on the wooden platform.

It took Kate several moments to recover her breath. She lay there amongst the coal gathering her wits. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked back to the coal tender and frowned when she did not see any sign of Royce. He must have jumped off the train before reaching the tunnel, Kate thought to herself.

Kate got to her feet and dusted herself off. Slowly she turned around looking into the engineer's cabin. Her mouth fell open at the sight that confronted her.

"Rick?"

Rick was seated on the engineer's seat. There was a big beaming smile on his face. His elbow was resting on the window sill as he peered out the window see the road ahead. He ducked back in and checked the gauges in front of him. His other hand was on a lever. On hearing his name he turned around. His smile deepened even more when he saw Kate standing there.

"Hey, Kate." He called out.

The smile he turned on for her sent another flutter through Kate's stomach.

"Y...you're driving the train?"

"Yeah. Isn't it cool?"

Kate inspected the entire cabin and found there was no one else except for them. The engineer had left Rick in charge of the train. That was impossible. It was madness, Kate thought to herself.

"I...I...thought..." Kate stammered.

"That the conductor threw me off the train?" Rick chuckled.

Kate shrugged her shoulders. She did not want to admit that there had been a part of her that thought Conductor Montgomery had thrown him off the train. The rational part of her knew that was not true but still...

"No, they just put me in charge of the train." Rick explained.

"Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why are you driving the train?" Kate asked. "And where is the engineer and fireman?"

"They had to go out and fix the light at the front the train." Rick said. His eyes went to the gauges and gave them a quick look over.

Kate still found it hard to believe that the engineer would leave control of the train in the hands of a kid. A kid who had never driven a train before. It was madness.

"What are you doing here, Kate?"

"Huh?" Kate had been looking around the cabin.

"I asked what are you doing here?" Rick said. "Did you miss me?"

Rick flashed a grin in Kate's direction.

"Ticket." Kate replied, feeling her cheeks begin to heat up under Rick's gaze.

Quickly she dug her hand into the pocket of her robe and pulled out Rick's ticket.

"I found your missing ticket." Kate informed him. "So, I thought I would bring it to you."

Rick's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Wow, thanks Kate."

Kate walked over to him and passed over the ticket. Rick took the ticket and nodded his head in thanks. Kate smiled back.

"Well, we can't have you thrown off the train not having a ticket." Kate said. "Now that you're driving the train."

Rick laughed. Kate found that she could not help but smile at the sound of his laughter and the way his face transformed when he laughed or smiled.

A sudden thought struck Rick. He glanced at Kate and smiled.

"You want to drive the train?" He asked.

"What? Me? No." Kate stammered.

"Come on." Rick urged. "It's easy, I'll show you."

Kate hesitantly moved closer as Rick started to pointed out that the big lever was the throttle and the small lever was the brakes. He pointed out the gauges on the panel in front of them. Kate absorbed the information and thought that it did not seem too difficult.

Rick then jumped out of the engineer's chair and motioned to Kate to sit. Kate was a little nervous as she debated whether to get into the seat. She bit on her lip. Looking over to Rick and saw him nodding his head, silently urging her to go on.

Kate knew that she should not do it, she was not qualified to drive a train, there should be an adult driving the train. Yet the adults had let Rick to drive the train, so it must not have been too dangerous. Rick's silent urging compelled her to move forward. Kate moved swiftly and jumped into the seat.

"There you go." Rick said.

Kate reached out and placed her hand on the throttle lever and pulled it on a little. A smile swept across her face when she felt the engine pick up speed.

"A natural train driver you are." Rick said with a laugh.

Rick moved to look out the cabin to see the way ahead all he could see was the darkness and the snow. It did not look like the engineer or the fireman had fixed the light at the front of the train had been fixed yet.

Ducking his head back into the cabin his eyes fell to the rope with the wooden handle that hung from the roof of the cabin.

"This is for the whistle." He pointed out to Kate. "You want to blow the whistle?"

"I don't think I should." Kate replied, her eyes were sweeping the gauges in front of her.

"Go on, give it a go, just the once."

Kate slowly reached out to the handle and gripped it. She cast a look at Rick was smiling at her. She bit on her lip nervously as she pulled on the handle. The wail of the steam whistle filled the air. Kate could not help but laugh.

"Awesome, right?" Rick said excitedly.

"Yeah." Kate nodded her head in agreement.

Laughing Rick peered out the cabin and looked ahead. The laughter faded as he saw the engineer standing on the small platform at the front of the train looking back in the direction of the cabin. The engineer was waving his arms frantically. He was shouting something but the wind and noise of the engine carried his voice away. The engineer pointed to the tracks ahead. Rick looked behind the engineer and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw dark swarming mass on the tracks ahead.

"Stop the train." Rick shouted.

"What?"

"Kate, stop the train." Rick shouted again. "There's something on the tracks ahead."

Kate closed the throttle and reached for the brake lever. She pulled on it with both her hands. Almost immediately the train shuddered and there came an earsplitting screech of metal wheels on metal tracks. Sparks began to fly out from underneath the wheels as they screeched in protest. The speed of the train began to decrease. Kate pulled on the brake lever even harder.

With relief both Kate and Rick saw that the train was slowing down but not quickly enough. Rick looked out the cabin and saw that the train light had been fixed and it shown brightly on the tracks ahead and the light revealed a huge herd of animals with antlers.

"Reindeer!" Rick exclaimed. "We're going to run over Santa's reindeer!"

Kate looked out the cabin as well.

"They're not reindeer." she told Rick. "They're caribou."

"Caribou, really?"

"Yes, really."

"They sure look like Santa's reindeer."

The train approached the stationary herd closer and closer not making any sign that they would move. With each passing moment the train slowed down even more. When both Kate and Rick both thought that the train would hit the animals it came to a halt with one final squeak.

"Phew, that was close." Rick remarked.

"Yeah." Kate sighed.

Rick pulled his head in from the window.

"I'm going to take a closer look at Santa's reindeer." Rick said with a beaming smile.

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head but did not bother to correct him.

"You stay here, okay? He said.

Kate nodded her head.

Rick moved across and jumped out of the cabin. He landed heavily in a snow drift sprawling face down in the snow. As he struggled to his feet Rick heard the sound of laughter. Straightening up he turned to look up at the train and saw Kate laughing down at him. He made a face at her before he brushed the snow off him and started down to the front of the train.

Conductor Montgomery was less than pleased that the train had stopped. He quickly made his way to the engineer's cabin, glancing at his fob watch.

"There can be no Christmas without the Polar Express arriving on time." He grumbled aloud. "Am I the only who understands that?"

Reaching the cabin Conductor Montgomery was startled to find Kate sitting in the engineer's seat.

"I might have known." He muttered aloud.

Kate was startled by the arrival of Conductor Montgomery. She turned to face him, looking more than a little nervous under the older man's glare.

"Why did you stop the train?" Conductor Montgomery demanded. "And where is Mr Rodgers?"

" Caribou blocking the track." Kate informed him.

"Caribou?"

"Yeah, take a look."

Conductor Montgomery moved across the cabin to poke his head out the window.

"Oh dear." Conductor Montgomery said. "Oh dear, oh dear."

Conductor Montgomery went to the ladder and started climbing down to the ground. He paused and motioned to Kate to follow. Kate frowned a little.

"It will be alright." He assured her.

The frown on Kate's face was replaced with a smile as she climbed down.

Together Conductor Montgomery and Kate walked to the front of the train where Rick, the engineer and the fireman were standing and staring at the mass of animals blocking the train tracks.

"Look at all these reindeer." Rick said as pointed to the silent stationary animals.

"Caribou." Kate retorted.

"Reindeer." Rick said.

"Caribou."

"Actually." Conductor Montgomery interrupted.

Both Kate and Rick looked up at the Conductor.

"You are both right."

The two children shot Conductor Montgomery with puzzled looks. Conductor Montgomery smiled down at them.

"Caribou are reindeer." Montgomery said looking at Kate. He then glanced at Rick. "And reindeer are caribou. It just depends which geographical position you are."

"See." Rick and Kate said simultaneously

XXXXX

_**Thoughts?**_

_**Con **_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Kate smirked at Rick before she turned her attention to the reindeer blocking the track. There were so many of them. There seemed to be thousands upon thousands of them. Rick as well as Conductor Montgomery took in the scene before them. They were soon joined by the engineer and the fireman.

"They don't seem like they want to move." Rick observed.

"So what do we do now?" Kate asked to no one in particular.

"We could chase them away." The engineer suggested.

"Yeah not a bad idea." The fireman replied.

"That sounds like fun." Rick added with a laugh, almost as if he was ready to charge forward towards the herd.

Kate stared at the big bull reindeer who was obviously the leader of this herd. His dark benign eyes regarded her carefully.

"I don't think they'd appreciate it being chased away." Kate remarked.

"Have you got a better idea, Kate?" Rick asked.

Kate felt everyone's eyes on her. Slowly she turned away from the bull reindeer and found all the others looking at her. She turned back to the reindeer. A thought suddenly popped into her head.

"We could blow the train's whistle." She said in a low voice.

"What?" Rick said.

"We could blow the whistle." Kate said a little more loudly.

"Mmm." Conductor Montgomery mused as he stroked his chin. "That just might work."

Conductor Montgomery motioned to the engineer and the fireman to get back on to the train. The two men nodded their heads and rushed back to the cabin. Rick smiled. He bumped Kate's shoulder.

Kate looked at him.

"Not just a pretty face, huh?" He chuckled.

Kate felt her cheeks start to burn and she quickly turned her attention to the reindeer. She could not hide the smile from her face.

The steam whistle shrieked loudly piercing the silence of the night. The leader of the reindeer herd lifted his heavily antlered head into the air. The animal let out a loud bellow that resonated through the night. Lowering it head the reindeer cast a glance in the direction of the train where Rick, Kate and Conductor Montgomery were standing. With a snort the herd leader turned away and moved off the railway track. Slowly the other reindeer began to follow their leader. The railway tracks were soon cleared.

"Awesome, right?" Rick said gleefully.

Kate looked across to Rick and could not stop the smile from rising to her face as she gave him a nod of her head.

"I wonder which of them will be joining Santa's sleigh team?" Rick asked.

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head at his remark.

"Come on you two." Conductor Montgomery announced as he turned and started walking back. "We have a schedule to keep and we have delayed long enough."

"Can I drive the train?" Rick asked, hopefully.

Conductor Montgomery stopped and looked at Rick before he cast a look up at the engineer. The engineer smiled down and shrugged his shoulders.

"Very well." Conductor Montgomery said. "But only for a little while."

"Cool!"

Rick raced to the ladder and scrambled up and into the cabin. He turned around and gave Kate a happy wave before he sat down in the engineer's seat and blew the train whistle. Kate smiled and shook her head at Rick's excitement. She followed Conductor Montgomery to the first passenger carriage.

Kate climbed up the stairs and disappeared into the carriage. Conductor Montgomery followed her and stood in the doorway. From his pocket he produced his watch and checked it.

"All aboard!" He called out loudly. "Next stop, the North Pole."

The train whistle blew loudly and then the wheels began to turn slowly as they struggled to get traction on the steel rails. The train began to move slowly but it began to pick up speed with each passing moment.

Kate moved quickly through the carriages her destination being her own seat in the last passenger carriage. Entering the dinning car she caught sight of Will sitting at one of the tables with some of his friends. Kate hurried on hoping that Will did not see her. Her hopes were dashed when Will did spot her and called out to her.

Kate ignored him and moved even faster. She did not want to speak to him let alone hang out with him, especially after what he had done to Rick. Kate did not want to have anything to do with Will any more. She left the dinning car and continued her journey.

Thankfully Will did not follow her. In the next carriage she entered Kate ran into her friends. Lanie called out for Kate to join them. Kate saw that Lanie was sitting with Javi on one side of the aisle and Kevin and Jenny were sitting on the other side. Kate declined the offer to join her friends with a shake of her head. She would have felt like the odd man out if she had joined them.

It was with a little relief when Kate reached her own seat and sat down. She turned to the window and stared out gazing at the passing scenery.

"You shouldn't have run off, Katie." Will said.

Kate was startled by Will's voice. She turned around quickly to find him standing in the aisle smirking at her. There was no warmth or humour in that smirk of his. His eyes were cold as they stared down at her.

"Go away Will." Kate said. "I don't want to talk to you."

"You think you're too good for the rest of us, eh?" Will said.

"Go away." Kate said loudly. She turned to face the window.

"Last chance, Katie." Will warned.

"I said go away and leave me alone."

Will took a step back but made no move to leave. The smirk on his face deepened.

"I'm not surprised you don't have many friends, and those you have are losers." He said.

Kate turned around sharply.

"Well you're a loser too." Will laughed. "You're a loser and so is you're dad. A loser and a drunk!" He taunted.

Kate felt as if she had been struck across the face. She stared up in shock at Will.

"A drunk and a loser." Will taunted and laughed.

Kate felt the tears welling up in her eyes but she forced herself not to cry in front of Will. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"And you're mom deserved to die, she was a loser too."

Try as she might Kate could not stop the tears. She could not believe Will would say something hurtful like that about her mother. She jumped to her feet. Tears were streaming down her face. She shoved a laughing Will out of the way and ran to the rear of the carriage and out of it. Will's taunting laughter echoed in her ears.

Rick entered the carriage with a big grin on his face. He was eager to tell Kate all about driving the train again. The smile vanished from his face when he saw Will at the far end of the carriage. He heard what Will had said to Kate and he had seen a sobbing Kate flee from the carriage.

Rick had never felt so angry in all of his life like he did in that moment. He was so angry that he was shaking. Without thinking he started walking towards where Will was standing. Will turned around and saw Rick's approach. Will sneered at Rick. He opened his mouth to say something to Rick but the words did not have the chance to come out of his mouth. He never saw the fist that came his way. He did feel the fist that landed squarely on his nose.

The force of the punch sent Will sprawling to the floor. There were gasps of shock from the kids who had witnessed the brief fight. Will lay on the floor not moving, his nose was at a strange angle and blood covered his face.

"If I ever hear you speak to Kate like that again, I will hurt you even worse." Rick growled as he stared at the prone Will.

Rick did not care if Will heard his warning or not. And he did not care about the looks the other kids were giving him. He stepped over the still prone Will and made his way to the observation car.

Rick pushed open the door and entered the observation car. He saw Kate sitting in a seat in the middle of the carriage, staring down at the floor, sobbing. As he slowly approached he could hear Kate snuffling back the tears.

He knew that he was intruding on her solitude but he could not help himself. He could not stop his feet from making their way to where Kate was sitting. She was crying and he didn't like the thought of her crying. He wanted to help her.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

Kate shook her head.

"Go away." Kate told him.

Rick knew that he could not do that. He was not going to leave her alone here, crying.

"Rick, please go away."

"I can't do that."

Cautiously he sat down beside her but leaving a little space between them but not too much. He watched her as she continued to stare down at the floor. She had stiffened when he had sat down registering his presence but did not turn to look at him. He waited for her to speak. He could wait for however long it would be.

Rick slid a little closer to her and then reached out and took hold of her hand that was resting on her knee. He closed his larger hand over her smaller one and gave it a gentle squeeze. A gesture of support, of solidarity, of comfort. He was a little surprised that Kate did not remove her hand from his.

Kate snuffled back a few more tears and turned her head. Her eyes fell upon their joined hands as they rested on her leg. She should have withdrawn her hand from his but found she did not have the strength to do that. She did not want to pull her hand away. She risked a glance in his direction and found his face covered with a look of concern.

"I want to be left alone." Kate said in a low voice.

"I can't do that." Rick replied.

"Go away, Rick."

"I'll leave you alone but not right now." Rick told her, a small smile rising to his lips. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

Kate looked down again at their joined hands and let out a low sigh. She did not want anyone seeing her like this. She did not want Rick seeing her crying but she realised that he was not going to leave her alone. He had said as much.

They sat in silence listening to the rhythmic rattling of the train wheels along the tracks. Rick continued to watch Kate who was staring down at the floor. He wondered if he should say something or not. He had noticed that Kate had stopped crying. That was a good thing, he thought to himself.

Rick could not help but wonder about something he had heard Will say to Kate, about her mother. His curiosity got the better of him.

"How did your mom die?" Rick asked in a low voice.

Kate stiffened at his question. She tried to pull her hand from his but Rick hold on firmly. Silent tears started to fall. In that moment Rick wanted to kick himself for making Kate cry again. He cursed his curiosity for taking control of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me." Rick told her.

Slowly Kate lifted her head to look at Rick. She snuffled back the tears.

"She was murdered." Kate whispered in a shaky voice.

A fresh wave of tears spilled forth. Rick felt his heart breaking for her. Without thinking he pulled Kate to him and wrapped his hands around her hugging tightly to his chest. He let her cry as he continued to hold her.

It had been an instinctive action pulling her into a hug. Rick's mother always dished out big hugs. When things went bad, he would get a hug from her. When things turned out good, he would get a hug from her. A scraped knee, earned a hug. An A-plus for a story he had written, earned a hug. Hugs from his mother always made him feel better and he had seen that Kate was in desperate need for a hug. So he gave her one.

He had been trying to understand why Kate did not like Christmas and did not believe in Santa Claus. Now he understood. It must be very hard for her to get into the Christmas spirit when the most important person in her life is missing, he thought to himself. He did not even want to think what it would be like for him if his mother was not there. He held Kate a little tighter and rested his chin on the top of her head, letting her cry herself out.

Hearing a noise coming from the door Rick lifted his head and found a surprised looking Lanie standing there. The surprise quickly transformed into a look of concern when she heard Kate's sobbing. She took a step towards them. Rick silently shook his head, as if to say that everything was under control. Lanie paused and nodded her head in understanding. She gave Rick a gentle smile before she turned and left the observation car.

XXXXX

_**Leave a review and tell me what you thought of this effort.**_

_**Con **_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rick did not know how long he held Kate close to him. It could have been a few minutes or it could have been a few hours, he did not know and more to the point he did not care. He found that he rather liked holding her. What he also knew was that Kate had stopped sobbing. It pleased him to know that a good long hug had done the trick.

Slowly Kate began to stir and she started to sit up breaking the embrace. Quickly she brushed the remaining tears from her face and shot him an apologetic look.

"Thank you, Rick."

"For what?" Rick replied, a puzzled look on his face.

"For being you."

This was the first time anybody had said that to him. Most of the time he could be annoying and loved to play the class clown but no one had ever thanked him for being him. Sure, there were some who had told him they loved it that he was funny, or loved the jokes that he cracked but no one ever had come out and thanked him for being him, Rick Rodgers.

"Hey, wait till you get to know me better, you wont be saying that." Rick quipped.

Kate smiled at him and reached out and took hold of his hand. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze like he had done to her earlier. From out of the corner of her eyes she saw Rick wince a little. Looking down she saw that the knuckles on his hand were smeared with dried blood and starting to scab.

"What happened to your hand?" Kate asked.

"It's nothing." Rick said quickly.

"It's not, nothing."

Rick tried to pull his hand away but Kate held on to it firmly. She lifted her gaze up to his face and gave him a stern look.

"What happened?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. He really did not want to explain what had happened. Thinking on it now he was a little surprised at what he had done.

"Rick." Kate said sternly.

Under her steady hazel eyed gaze Rick found himself not able to hold his tongue.

"Will's nose kind of ran into my fist."

"What?"

Kate stared at Rick in surprise. Rick shrugged his shoulders. Kate narrowed her eyes.

"Why would Will's nose kind of run into your fist, Rick?"

"I might have taken exception to something he said to a friend of mine." Rick confessed.

Kate coaxed the rest of the story out of Rick. She was amazed that Rick would have stood up to Will and even more so that he had punched him. There were very few boys who stood up to Will because he was the meanest and toughest kids around. All the kids were afraid of Will.

Kate should have been surprised that Rick had stood up for her but she wasn't. After all she had seen him do it earlier when he did not know who she was. Kate nudged his shoulder with hers.

"Haven't I told you I can fight my own battles." Kate told him.

"Yeah." Rick nodded. He nudged her back. "But at the time you were otherwise occupied."

Kate nodded her head. A small smile slowly tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"You shouldn't fight, you know." She said.

"Oh?"

"You don't want your name going on Santa's naughty list."

"I didn't think of that." Rick said, looking shocked. "You think..."

Kate shrugged her shoulders in response. Rick suddenly narrowed his eyes at Kate.

"But you don't believe in Santa."

"But you do." Kate replied.

Rick nodded his head. Yes he did believe in Santa. He always had. Ever since he could remember Christmas time had always been the best time of the year for him. He was touched that Kate was concerned that his name would find itself on Santa's naughty list. He smiled at the thought.

"If I am, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Rick said.

"Oh, why's that?"

"It wouldn't be on there for too long."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And why is that, Rick?" Kate challenged.

"I think I would be able to convince him that it was a momentary aberration, that I have been good for most of the year."

"You seem so sure of yourself." Kate laughed.

Rick could only shrug his shoulders in reply.

They sat in companionable silence for some minutes with Kate holding Rick's hand. Rick felt that they had been silent for too long and he wanted to say something. He did not know why but he wanted to continue talking to her.

"I never had a father." Rick announced suddenly.

Kate lifted her gaze from the floor and turned to look at Rick. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Were you some immaculate conception, or something?" She teased.

Rick could not help the grin that leaped to his face. He liked the way she teased him.

"I mean, I didn't know my father." He explained. "He had left, long before I was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Rick shook his head as if to say, not to worry about it, he was okay with it.

"What I'm trying to say is that I think I know a little about what you're going through."

Kate's face clouded a little and she shook her head.

"No, you don't know what I'm going through." She said quietly.

Rick suddenly realised that he had no idea what she was going through. He closed his eyes and hung his head. It had been a stupid thing to say. He had really had put his foot in it just when things were going well between them.

"Yeah, you're right." He whispered. "I'm sorry."

Rick felt Kate squeeze his hand. Opening his eyes he looked at their joined hands. He had forgotten that they were still holding hands. Slowly he lifted his head to look at Kate and saw a gentle smile on her face.

"It's okay, Rick."

"I was being stupid."

"No you weren't." Kate assured him. "It's sweet."

Rick's eyebrows rose up at that last remark.

Rick glanced behind him out the window. Suddenly his face lit up at the sight he saw in the distance. There on the horizon he saw a shimmering golden light.

"Wow!" He exclaimed.

Kate, hearing Rick's gasp looked at him. On seeing the expression on his face she shifted and looked out the window. She too saw the shimmering golden light in the distance. Kate's eyes widened in surprise. It was the same shimmering golden light that she had seen in her bedroom. The same light that had enticed her out of her apartment.

"There's the North Pole!" Rick said excitedly.

"That's not the North Pole." Kate replied quickly.

"Sure it is." Rick insisted. "You'll see."

"Yeah, well see."

"We're going to see Santa at the North Pole!" Rick exclaimed.

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was certain that the light on the horizon was not the North Pole and they were definitely not going to visit Santa. She did not care what everyone thought.

Kate turned away from the window and her gaze fell on Rick. She saw the very excited look on his face. Sensing he was being watched her turned to look at Kate with a big beaming smile. Kate could not help but return his smile. She felt happy for him and even felt a little envious that he could get so excited about something that did not exist.

"Isn't it awesome, Kate?" Rick said. "We're going to visit Santa."

"Yeah." Kate said without much enthusiasm.

Both Kate and Rick turned to look out the window again. They saw through the golden light the outlines of towers and spires. The train took a long winding curve and the sight of the city shimmering in the golden light disappeared from view. Rick slowly sat back down in the seat and Kate followed suit.

"Have you decided what you're going to ask Santa to bring you for Christmas?" Rick asked her.

Kate shook her head.

"But you have to, Kate."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do." Rick insisted.

"Rick!"

"Okay, okay." Rick replied. "There's still plenty of time to think of something."

Kate rolled her eyes at him. She could not understand how he could so enthusiastic.

The train reached the outskirts of the city of the North Pole. It rattled over a long snaking aqueduct bridge that curved this way and then that way. Then the train started to climb up a rising hill. On either side of the train tracks they passed terraced houses.

"So have you decided what present you want Santa to bring you?" Rick asked.

"Rick will you stop that!" Kate snapped. "I don't want any present."

Kate immediately felt guilty for her harsh outburst when she saw Rick's face fall. She gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Rick." She said. Reaching out Kate took hold of his hand. "I didn't mean to shout."

"It's okay."

"It's just I don't want really want any presents."

The smile returned to Rick's face. Kate felt a little bit better on seeing it. She marvelled at his ability to bounce back so quickly.

"Together, I'm sure we can come up with something." Rick said leaning closer to her.

Kate closed her eyes and shook her head. She was quickly coming to realise that nothing she said or did was going to change his mind. There was no point in fighting it.

Kate noticed that the train was still climbing up the hill. She also noticed that they were passing red brick buildings with green and white gables.

Kevin did not want to go and get Kate and Rick. He wanted to sit with Jenny. He had been having a good time with her. She laughed at the jokes he made. He could not remember the last time he had so much fun. Yet Lanie had told him to go and get them. Kevin wondered why she could not send Javi to get them or go herself. But Lanie had told him to go and he had was doing what she had ordered.

Kevin stepped across the platform between the two carriages and reached the door to the observation car. He pulled open the door and entered the carriage. He saw Kate and Rick sitting in the middle of the carriage. He also saw that they were holding hands as they huddled together talking.

"Hey guys." Kevin called out.

Both Rick and Kate were startled by Kevin's shout. They turned to find standing there.

"Ah...Lanie said you should come back." Kevin stammered. "We're nearly there."

Both Kate and Rick nodded their heads. They rose to their feet. They released their hands and started to walk up the carriage.

Kevin turned and opened the door, leaving it open for the other two and walked onto the platform. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were coming and he did not see where he was stepping. He planted his foot on the decoupling mechanism.

There was a loud hiss and screech as the observation car detached itself from the rest of the train. Kevin found himself being hurtled backwards back into the observation car. He landed heavily on the floor winding him.

Kevin lifted his head and through blurry eyes saw that Kate and Rick had been thrown to the floor as well. The other thing he noticed was the observation car was speeding backwards.

Rick helped Kate to her feet.

"Kate are you alright?" He asked.

Kate nodded her head. She too noticed that the carriage was speeding backwards down the hill and was picking up speed.

"We have to stop the carriage." she said.

"Yeah." Rick agreed grimly. "The brake."

Kate nodded her head. Turning around she saw Kevin laying on the floor.

"Rick look after Kevin, I'll take care of the brake." Kate announced.

Rick opened his mouth to protest but Kate was already moving up the carriage towards the door. He wanted to call her back but knew that she would not listen to him. His eyes fell to Kevin and saw that he looked a little hurt from the fall. He moved towards him.

Kate reached the platform and looked about for what looked like a brake. The carriage was going even faster than before. She had to find the brake. Where could it be, she wondered.

XXXXX

_**Thoughts?**_

_**Con **_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kate was trying not to panic but as the observation carriage was hurtling backwards with ever increasing speed it was hard not to. She had not found the brake yet. She was certain there was a break mechanism around here somewhere.

Suddenly the carriage took a sharp turn to the right. Kate found herself being lifted off her feet. She let out a scream and tried to grab hold of the railing. Her hand clamped on the freezing metal and held on as hard as she could stopping herself from being thrown off.

Kate had barely enough time to recover from the shock of almost falling off the carriage when the carriage took a massive dip and plunged downwards. Kate held onto the railing with both hands and prayed that her stomach did not come up through her mouth like it threatened to do. This ride was worse than any roller coaster ride she had been on.

The carriage levelled out and continue to hurtle along the tracks at a fast speed. Kate started looking about her, searching for something, anything that looked like a brake mechanism. She looked to her right and saw on the back of the carriage a wheel. It had to be it, she thought to herself with some excitement. Slowly she moved towards it, taking one cautious step after another, one hand on the railing just in case.

The carriage dipped down again but this time Kate was prepared and held on tightly as it plunged down. The downward plunge was not as steep as the previous one and she waited for the carriage to level out before she moved again.

Kate reached out for the brake wheel. At first the wheel refused to turn. She tried again but the wheel would not budge. Kate used both her hands and pulled. The wheel gave way a little. She pulled on the wheel with all her might and it began to turn slowly. The more she pulled on it the more the wheel turned. Kate heard a loud metallic screeching sound. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the screeching and saw that the carriage was starting to slow down. She turned the brake wheel even harder. The screeching grew louder. Glancing behind her Kate saw a shower of sparks flying out from under the wheels of the carriage. She continued turning the brake wheel until it would turn no more.

Letting out a sigh of relief she let go of the brake wheel. The carriage was still moving rapidly but was noticeably slowing down. Quickly she made her way back into the carriage. She saw Rick and Kevin were standing at the other end of the carriage on the platform holding the railing. As the carriage took another dip Kate braced herself against a seat to stop from falling. She heard Rick letting out a joyful whoop. Once the carriage levelled out, Kate eased herself from the seat and ran to the end of the carriage.

"Hey, Kate." Rick said, his face beaming. "Isn't this fun?"

"Fun?" Kate spluttered.

"Yeah." Rick said loudly. "Best roller coaster ride ever, right Kevin?"

"Yeah!" Kevin's shaky voice replied.

"See, best ever!" Rick shouted.

Kate could not believe it. Here they were on an out of control carriage that could crash at any moment killing them all and Rick was happy that this was the best roller coaster ride he had ever been on? She turned and stared at Rick unable to comprehend his enthusiasm. He was mad, that was the only thing she could come up with to explain his attitude.

For a few minutes Kate stood silently at the railing and watched as the carriage travelled through what looked like to her as in industrial area of the town. She saw factories on either side of the railway line, some with tall chimneys, some whose yards were stacked with large wooden boxes marked 'Toys', but all of them humming with the unmistakeable manufacturing sounds.

Rick leaned a little closer to Kate.

"I was scared too." he whispered. "Still scared."

Kate was startled by the sound of his voice so close to her ear, and just as startled by what he had said. She turned to look at him. He gave her a small nod of the head.

"Kevin was terrified." Rick explained in a voice only for her. "So, I tried to make it fun, make a game of it."

Kate did not know what to say to that. The anger she had been holding for him, melting on hearing his confession. He acted like a fool to help ease the fears of her friend Kevin. Her face softened as she continued to look at him. She slowly shook her head but there was a smile on her lips. She could not believe that he had done that. Without thinking about it she reached out and placed her hand on his on the railing, giving it a squeeze. Her smile grew wider as she turned to look at the way ahead.

The rapidly slowing carriage entered a tunnel. The walls of the tunnel were lined with lights, shaped like candy canes, Christmas baubles and Yuletide trees, and spaced at regular intervals.

"Where are we going?" Kevin asked nervously.

"Don't know." Rick replied. "But wherever it is, I bet it's real cool."

Rick beamed when he felt his hand being squeezed again. He heard Kate chuckle softly.

The carriage emerged from the tunnel. Kate, Rick and Kevin found themselves in a cavernous room, that was circular in shape and whose ceiling rose so high up in the air that they could hardly see it. There were a number of tunnel entrances all with railway tracks emerging from them, and all the railway tracks led to the centre of the room where there was a large turntable.

The carriage's wheels clattered as it rolled slowly onto the turntable and came to a halt. With the carriage landing on the turntable the large mechanism began to rotate slowly but after a couple of minutes it too came to a stop.

Kate turned to look at Rick.

"What now?" She asked.

"I think we're lost." Kevin said.

"We're not lost." Rick scoffed.

"How can you be so sure, hotshot?" She challenged.

Rick's eyes were taking in the tunnel entrances. They all looked identical and he could not tell which one they had come out of. They could spend nearly forever trying to find the right one. Yet they could stay where they were. Some how they had to find a way back. The only thing to do he concluded was to pick a tunnel and go through it.

Rick felt Kate was ready to speak again but he held up his hand to forestall her. His ears picked up a faint sound. He cocked his ear as he strained to listen. Slowly his face melted in a small smile. It was music he was hearing. Christmas music, carols. He listened for a few moments to be sure. Yes it was Christmas carols.

"Can you hear that?" Rick turned to look at Kate.

"Hear what?" Kate replied.

"Christmas carols."

Kate listened but try as she might she could not hear anything.

"I can't hear anything." Kate announced. She looked past Rick to where Kevin was standing and shot him a questioning look. Kevin shrugged his shoulders in answer.

"It's music." Rick insisted.

Kate tried listening again but she heard nothing. She could not hear music. She shook her head.

"Come on." Rick said with growing excitement.

Rick jumped off the carriage and landed on the turntable. He turned and looked up to the carriage. Kevin climbed down the ladder and joined Rick.

"Where are we going?" Kate asked him.

"To find where the music is coming from."

"What music?" Kate could not hide her frustration.

"If we find the source of the music, we might find someone to take us back to the train." Rick explained, ignoring her outburst.

"Rick, what music!" Kate shouted.

Rick looked up at Kate perplexed.

"You can't hear it?"

"No!"

Rick glanced across to Kevin and raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Kevin shrugged his shoulders.

"I can hear something." Kevin said. "It could be music."

"Both of you are crazy." Kate huffed, trying hard to stifle her growing frustration.

Rick turned to look up at Kate.

"Do you trust me, Kate?"

Kate looked down from the carriage and saw the earnest expression on his face. She frowned a little in response as she thought over the question he had asked. Did she trust him? She hardly knew Rick having only met him tonight and she was not the kind of person to trust people easily, not since her mother had died. Rick had been nothing but a friend to her. He hardly knew her and yet was ready to defend her, was ready to comfort her when she needed it. And talking with him came easy and natural, like they had been lifelong friends. That had to count for something, right?

She had no idea which way to go. Perhaps Rick might just know which way to go. Perhaps he could hear music even though she could not. She bit slowly on her lip as she stared into his clear blue eyes. Then it struck her. She did trust him.

In answer to his question Kate gave him a nod of her head. Rick smiled up at her.

"We'd better get going then." Rick said. "Can't stay here all day."

Kate started down the stairs. Rick held up his hand so Kate could take it and help her down. Kate had other ideas brushing his hand aside, she did not need his help to get down. She was not totally incapable she wanted to tell him. Her foot slipped on a rung of the ladder, losing her balance and found herself falling forward.

She let out a shriek as she fell from the carriage. Closing her eyes she prepared herself for the impact with the ground. It did not come though. She felt a pair of hands grab her but her forward momentum was such she kept moving forward. There was a loud thud as she hit the ground but her landing had been softened. On landing she heard a loud exhalation of air, like a woosh. For a couple of moments she lay there stunned. Slowly she opened her eyes and found herself looking down at Rick. Her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Rick was stunned from hitting the ground on his back. He had been winded by the impact. He felt something heavy sitting on his chest and his hands were holding onto something warm and soft. A moment later he remembered what had happened.

Snapping open his eyes he found a pair of worried looking hazel eyes staring down at him. Kate had landed on him when she had fallen from the carriage.

"Are...are you alright, Rick?"

"Yeah."

Rick saw the worried expression in Kate's eyes lessened. He found that he was still clutching. He was a little surprised to see that she was in no hurry to get off him.

"Are you sure, you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"I'm glad."

Rick gazed up at Kate's relieved smile that broke across her face. He returned her smile. For a moment he thought Kate was going to lean closer and kiss him. He would not have minded if that happened. He would not have minded at all. It did not happen though. He saw Kate's eyes widen in surprise and alarm. Suddenly remembering how they were situated, Kate hurriedly scrambled off him and got to her feet.

Rick slowly got to his feet. He looked over to Kate and saw her ducking her head trying to hide the blush of embarrassment that coloured her cheeks. His gaze slid across to where Kevin was standing and saw that his new friend was looking back at him trying very hard not to grin but not doing a very good job of it. Rick felt his cheeks start to heat up as well.

"So, which way, Rick." Kevin asked, breaking the embarrassed silence.

Rick cocked his ear again and listened for the music. He heard it again but this time it was a little louder. Slowly he turned his head in the direction it was coming from. Lifting up his arm, he pointed to the tunnel where the music was coming from.

"This way." He announced.

XXXXX

_**There you have it two chapters in one day. I hope you enjoyed them. let me know what you think of them.**_

_**Con **_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rick, Kate and Kevin started walking along the tracks heading for the tunnel that Rick had pointed to. Rick was a little disappointed that there was no shear drop underneath the railway tracks. If he was writing this story he would add an element of danger by having a bottomless pit that the tracks crossed over and he would have the heroes of his story having to carefully cross the tracks.

Rick was the first to reach the tunnel entrance and he stopped. He looked behind him waiting for Kate and Kevin to catch up. They came to a halt beside him and all three of them stared into the darkness of the tunnel.

"You are sure this is the way to go?" Kate asked him.

Rick could hear the music filtering through the tunnel. He turned to look at Kate and he gave her a nod of his head. Yes, he was sure.

"What if a train comes?" Kevin asked nervously.

"No train will be coming through." Rick assured him.

Sensing Kate was about to question him, Rick turned to her and an arched an eyebrow almost as if he was challenging her to say what she was going to say. Kate closed her mouth and just shook her head. She had told him that she trusted him and she was not about to change that so soon.

"Let's get going, we don't want to be late."

Rick quickly walked into the tunnel. Kate had to jog to catch up with him as did Kevin. After having walked about twenty feet through the tunnel the darkness that surrounded them was dispelled by the lights high on the walls. The same kind of lights they had seen in the other tunnel they had pass through.

XX

They had been walking for some minutes through the tunnel with no sign of it coming to an end. The tunnel seemed to go on for ever. Kate was starting to think along the lines that they might have made a mistake in taking this tunnel. She cast a glance at Rick and saw that his face showed no sign of doubt. He still wore that confident grin on his lips. A smile that Kate found that she liked seeing, though she would never tell him that.

"How far is it to the end of the tunnel?" Kevin asked.

"It shouldn't be too far." Rick replied.

"Uh-huh.

Rick caught the note of doubt in Kevin's response. He glanced at the boy but Kevin continued to stare at the path ahead as if he was ignoring Rick. Rick turned to look at Kate and found her looking at him. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her, silently asking her if she shared Kevin's thoughts.

Kate saw the the hesitation and hint of uncertainty on Rick's face. Despite her own thoughts on the matter, she had placed her trust in him, and so far he had not let her down. She offered him a reassuring nod of her head. The uncertainty vanished from Rick's face in an instant and the grin returned.

They continued to walk in silence for a few more minutes with only the sound of their footsteps echoing off the walls.

"Kevin, tell me about what you guys do for Christmas?" Rick asked suddenly.

Kevin cast a quizzical look in Rick's direction.

"Why'd you want to know?"

"I'd like to know."

"Why?"

"I want to know how families celebrate Christmas." Rick said. "And besides it will help to pass the time."

Kevin thought about what Rick had said. He did not see anything wrong with telling him how he and his family celebrated.

"Christmas Day all the family gets together at someone's house, all the uncles and aunts and cousins." Kevin said. "This year we're having Christmas at our place."

"It must be so cool having so many people around?" Rick remarked.

"Yeah. We get to play all these great games." Kevin said with growing excitement. "And all the food! Mom's been cooking for days."

"Turkey with all the trimmings?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, and ham and all this other stuff."

"Sounds great."

"We eat so much until everyone is ready to explode." Kevin added, laughing. "And afterwards Dad and my uncles, they've all had too much to drink, well, they all start singing, Christmas carols and Irish songs..."

"Must be amazing." Rick remarked.

"Yeah, it is." Kevin agreed, smiling.

"What about presents, do you open them on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning?"

"Oh, in the morning, after Santa has come." Kevin said.

Rick listened to Kevin with a hint of envy. He had always wondered what it would be like to be part of a big family, sharing a big family Christmas, loud and raucous and loving. For Rick it had always been just him and his mother.

He glanced across to Kate and saw that she was unusually quiet.

"What about you, Kate?" he said. "What are your Christmas' like?"

Kate was startled by Rick's voice. She had been listening to Kevin about his family's Christmas and had felt a pang of sadness. It reminded her of Christmases she had experienced back in happier times. Shaking off her reveries she looked at Rick. She gave him a frown and a shake of her head. She did not want to talk about what she did at Christmas.

"What about you, Rick?" She asked.

Rick regarded Kate for a moment and saw the reticence in her eyes and knew that she did not want to talk about her own Christmases, hence her question.

"It's always been just Mom and me." He said slowly. "No big family gatherings. And ever since I can remember we've never spent Christmas in the same place twice."

Kate shot Rick a questioning look in response to Rick's remark. He smiled back at her.

"Mother is an actress." He explained. "Usually around Christmas time we travel with her theatre group performing Yuletide plays from town to town."

Kate nodded her head in understanding.

"Usually for me, Christmas Eve is spent in some motel room in some small town, and Christmas lunch is attending an actors' party where I'm usually the only kid."

"Don't you get any presents?" Kevin asked sounding a little shocked.

"Yeah, Santa brings me a present. He seems to know where to find me." Rick replied.

Kate rolled her eyes at that response. She listened avidly to the stories he spun of his Christmases past, laughing along with Kevin at the jokes Rick cracked but as she listened she also detected an underlying note of sadness, of longing.

Kate did not know how long they had been walking through the tunnel but her laughter and Kevin's laughter echoed off the walls as Rick eagerly told them some funny stories of some of the Christmas parties he had been too. He had just finished telling the story of a party where the Santa had drunk too much of the spiked eggnog and could not keep his hands off the ladies.

"There's something up ahead." Kevin shouted.

Rick had been looking at Kate as she was laughing at his story, enjoying the sound of her laughter. Slowly her drew his gaze away from a smiling Kate and looked at the way ahead. He saw in the distance a light at the tunnel's exist. He cocked his ear and listened. Sure enough he could still hear the Christmas music. He could also hear some other noise, something that he could not quite make out. All the same his face lit up with excitement.

"Come on, guys." he shouted.

Kevin and Kate had to run to catch up with Rick who had started to run ahead.

They emerged from the tunnel to find themselves on a wide platform that ran the length of a wall and descended to the floor of an enormous factory. Rick walked over to the protective railing, Kate and Kevin followed him. All three of them peered down to the floor and gasped at what they beheld.

On the floor of this enormous building were five long conveyor belts which emerged from large doors at one side of the building and ran the length of the floor and disappeared through other large doors on the other side. On either side of each conveyor belt were elves. Hundreds and hundreds of elves all dressed in brown jackets, green woollen leggings and matching hats. Trundling along the conveyor belts were toys of all shapes and sizes. The elves picked up a toy taking it off the conveyor belt placing it on a table beside them where they quickly and efficiently wrapped the present before returning the present back onto the conveyor belt. At the end of the conveyor belt stood an elf with a red hat who placed a name sticker on the wrapped gift. The gift then continued on and disappeared through another doorway.

"Do you know where we are?" Rick said excitedly.

Kevin shook his head as he stared as he stared down at the elves as they went about their work.

"We were kind of hoping that you'd know." Kate said.

"I know where we are."

Kate cast a glance in Rick's direction and waited for him to speak again. Rick was staring down to the floor watching the elves at work. "You want to share it with the rest of class, Rick?" she demanded.

Rick dragged his eyes away from the elves and faced a frowning Kate. He beamed at her.

"This is the Great Wrapping Hall." Rick declared, waving a hand to the floor below. "This is where the elves wrap up the presents that Santa delivers."

Kate stared at Rick and shook her head.

"You mean this is part of Santa's workshop?" Kevin said, having caught some of Rick's excitement.

"Yeah."

"Oh wow! I wonder where my present is?"

"Sitting under the tree at home." Kate replied in a deadpan tone.

Rick gave Kate a look and she shrugged her shoulders in response.

"It is, this is part of Santa's workshop." He insisted. "Are those not elves that are hard at work?"

Kate cast her eyes down to the floor below. She had to concede that they all looked like elves. She nodded her head in answer to Rick's question.

"And are those not presents that the elves are wrapping?"

Kate could feel Rick's gaze on her.

"Okay." She ground out.

"See, that wasn't hard was it?" Rick said leaning close to Kate. Kate was startled by his nearness. She risked a glance in his direction but Rick had straightened up and looking down at the elves.

As they looked down to the floor watching the elves working, there erupted a loud, long whistle. All the elves stopped working. The conveyor belts came to a halt. The elves quickly began to march out of the Wrapping Hall. Within a couple of minutes the hall was empty and quiet.

"Now what?" Kate asked, looking at Rick. "How do we get out of here?"

Rick turned away from the railing he was standing and looked at Kate. He wore a confident smile on his face.

"We go that way." He announced as he pointed in the direction where the wrapped presents had disappeared.

"Why that way?" Kate asked.

"Because that's where the presents went."

"Why not go out the way the elves did?"

"Because they're not going where we need to go."

Rick started following the railway track as it wended its way down to the floor of the Wrapping Hall. Kevin followed him but Kate remained where she was standing. With a loud sigh she too started walking.

Reaching the floor of the hall Rick turned and made his way towards one of the doorways which the conveyor belts passed through.

"Rick." Kate called out.

Rick stopped and turned to look back.

"Are you sure this is the right way to go?" She asked.

"I'm sure." he replied and then grinned. "If it's not, then we back track and go the other way and you can spend as much time as you like telling me, '_I told you so'_."

Kate tried very hard not to smile at his remark but when Rick started walking again, she allowed her smile to reach her face. She shook her head and started following.

As they passed through the doorway, Rick, Kate and Kevin found themselves in the largest warehouse they had ever seen. There were rows upon rows of shelves. Shelves that rose high into the air, all the way up to the roof of the warehouse. The one thing they all noticed was that all the shelves were empty.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?" Kevin pointed out.

Rick turned away from gazing up at the empty shelves and focused his gaze directly ahead of them. In the distance beyond the open doors of the warehouse was a sight that had him beaming.

"Is that Santa's sleigh?" Kevin asked hesitantly.

"Cool!" Rick exclaimed.

XXXXX

_**Tell me what you think of this chapter.**_

_**Con **_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rick stared at the sight of the sleigh. Suddenly he started running towards it. He heard Kevin and then Kate run as well. Rick burst through the doors of the warehouse and he came to a skidding halt before the sleigh. Moments later he was joined by Kate and then Kevin.

"It's Santa's sleigh." Rick said with awe.

The sleigh was about ten feet in length, narrow at the front and wider at the rear. It was painted red with snowflake motifs and stars painted in white on the sides. There was trimmings of green and red as well as small silver bells. The interior was also decorated with tinsel and sprigs of mistletoe and holy as well as more silver bells. The metal skids were polished and gleamed in the moonlight.

The front bench was of upholstered black leather as was the second bench behind. Behind the second bench was where Santa's toy sack was located. It was the largest toy sack any of them had ever seen and it bulged with all the toys that had been crammed into it.

Attached to each corner of the sleigh were thick ropes that rose up and were secured to four large hot air balloons.

"Isn't it awesome Kate?" Rick said, turning to look at her.

Kate stared at the sleigh. She had to concede that it was an impressive looking sleigh, it was certainly bigger than any sleigh she had ever since. The toy sack at the back was simply huge. Feeling Rick's eyes on her she found herself nodding her head in answer to Rick's question. Slowly she turned to look at him.

"So what do we do now?" She asked him.

"We get onboard the sleigh."

"What?"

"We climb on board the sleigh."

Kate raised an eyebrow in Rick's direction. He could not be serious, could he?

"Why would we do that?" She asked carefully.

"Because it's going to take us to Santa."

He was serious, Kate thought to herself. She turned away from Rick and looked at the sleigh. Her eyes travelled upwards to the hot air balloons. There was no way those balloons could lift the sleigh weighed down as it was with so many toys let alone carry it any distance.

"I think I'll go back the way we came and take the exit the elves did." Kate announced.

"Oh, come on Kate." Rick said. "Where's you're sense of adventure?"

"I'm not riding in that sleigh."

"It's the fastest way to get where we need to go."

"Why is it the fastest way?" Kate challenged.

Kate saw Rick regarding her for a moment before his face broke with a bright beaming smile that seemed to make his blue eyes twinkle.

"Because." He said.

"Because?" Kate's eyebrows rose up questioningly. Rick's smile deepened.

"Because, it's the way I would write this story."

Kate did not know how to respond to that. She just stared at him.

"It makes for a better story." Rick explained. "Three kids on their way to visit Santa get separated from the rest of their friends. They become lost and they try to find their way back, as they do, they have all these adventures and end up at Santa's workshop where they find Santa's sleigh ready and waiting with all the toys that Santa is going to deliver on Christmas Eve."

The sceptical expression on Kate's soften as she watched Rick telling her about the way he would write this story. She liked the way his face became animated as he spoke.

"So, they climb aboard the sleigh and they fly to Santa?" She said.

"Yeah." Rick said eagerly.

"Well, I'm game." Kevin called out.

Kevin was still staring at the sleigh, his eyes focused on the toy sack and wondering if his toy was in there somewhere, and how he could find it. Without waiting for the others he walked up to the sleigh, stepped onto the skid and climbed into second bench. He turned and stared at the toy sack.

Both Kate and Rick heard Kevin and they looked over to see him getting into the sleigh. Rick turned back to Kate and offered her a small smile.

"What have you got to lose, Kate?" Rick said in a low voice.

"My dignity?"

"Then you'll have Kevin and me for company." Rick laughed.

Kate smiled back.

"We can't stay here." Rick added.

Kate bit on her lip nervously as she stared at the sleigh. It was ridiculous. There was no way the sleigh could be airlifted by those hot air balloons. Her eyes slid across to Rick and saw the expectant look on his face as he waited for her to make a decision. She could see that he was patient with her. Rick was right, they could not stay here all day.

"Okay." Kate said in a low voice, having made her decision.

Kate had a feeling she might regret the decision but it was but it was overwhelmed by Rick's beaming smile and excited disposition.

"Awesome!" He cried out.

Rick grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her towards the sleigh. He brought her to the sleigh and continued to hold her hand as Kate slowly climbed onto the front seat of the sleigh. Settling down on the seat Rick let go of her hand and he climbed up. She slid a little to give him room on the seat.

"The seat's comfy." Rick remarked.

"What happens now?" Kevin asked.

"We wait for the sleigh to take off." Rick replied.

"How long do we have to wait, man?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know."

Kate glanced at Rick.

"Haven't worked out that bit, eh?" she said.

"No." Rick's face fell a little.

Kate nodded her head.

"How would you write it?" She ventured.

The smile returned to Rick's face as he turned to look at Kate.

"I would use magic." He declared.

"Magic?" Kate could not hide the look of disbelief that appeared on her face.

"Yeah." Rick nodded his head.

"What kind of magic?"

"The best magic of all."

"Uh-huh."

"The magic of Christmas!" Rick announced.

Kate could not help but laugh. She turned away from him and shook her head. Her eyes fell to the floor of the sleigh and she spotted a small silver bell which must have fallen off from somewhere. She reached down and picked it up. She gave the bell a shake but heard nothing. She frowned, the bell must be broken she thought to herself. Looking up she saw Rick staring at her with a big smile on his face.

"The bell is broken." She informed him.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is." Kate said firmly.

Rick craned his head to look at Kevin sitting in the back seat. "You can hear the bell?"

"Yeah, I heard it." Kevin replied, smiling.

Kate looked at Kevin as if he had grown a second head. Then she turned to face Rick.

"You mean you can't hear the bell?" He asked looking surprised.

"No I can't because it's broken."

"It works perfectly well."

"Then why can't hear it?" She asked. "Is it a bell that only dogs and boys can hear?"

Rick laughed. "No."

Kate frowned as she looked down at the silver bell that sat in the palm of her hand.

"Then why can't I hear it?"

Rick reached out and closed Kate's hand over the bell. He held her hand as Kate looked up shooting Rick a questioning look.

"You have to believe, Kate."

"Believe?"

"Yes, Believe in Santa or the magic of Christmas," Rick said in a soft voice. "Or believe in the magic of all those Christmases you shared with your mother and father. The fun and laughter and all the joy. Just...believe."

Kate stared at Rick. His blue eyes looking soft and gentle, held her gaze steadily. There was a part of her that wanted to rebel at what he had just said. She wanted to tell him there was no Santa and there was no magic of Christmas. She wanted to pull her hand away from his but found she could not. His warm hand held hers.

"Close your eyes, Kate." Rick whispered. "And...believe."

Despite herself Kate found herself closing her eyes. The warmth of his hand suffused through her hand and along her arm and then through the rest of her body. In her mind's eye she saw a scene of a Christmas Eve from long ago, there in her living room her father was putting the final touches to the tall Christmas tree, adding ornaments to spare branches which Kate was passed to him. In the corner the television was on and was showing the movie _It's A Wonderful Life_. Her mother was kneeling on the floor near the tree and opening a final storage box to remove a beautiful snow angel. She carefully removed the angel from the box and passed it to Kate, telling her to be careful with it. Kate nodded her head before turning to hold it up for her father to take and set it at the top of the tree. Instead of taking the snow angel, her father had put his hands on Kate's waist and lifted her up, telling her to put the angel on the tree herself. Kate had to stretch out and it took her a couple of attempts until she successfully secured the angel to the top of the tree. Kate had never felt so proud before, she had never felt so happy at being allowed to place the snow angel on the tree, she had seen her father do it before and now she had done it herself. The smiles on her mother and father showed how pleased they were with her and Kate could not feel any happier than she did right in that moment.

Kate opened her eyes, the first thing she saw were Rick's twinkling eyes and beaming smile.

"Now shake the bell." He instructed.

Slowly she opened her hand. Picking up the bell with her other hand, she gave it a shake. She heard the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. It sounded like that sound that she had heard in her bedroom. She shook the bell and again heard it ringing. She let out a gasp of surprise. A smile of delight broke across her face. If it was possible Rick was smiling even more as he nodded his head, as if he was silently telling her, _I told you so._

"Ah...um...guys..." Kevin stammered. "Guys, we're floating."

Rick dragged his gaze from Kate's shining smile and looked out of the sleigh and to his surprise found that the sleigh was rising slowly but steadily into the air.

"Awesome!" Rick cried out. He turned back to Kate. "Isn't it great? We're flying."

The sleigh rose higher and higher into the air. The warehouse fell away and as the sleigh rose higher the rest of the two was revealed.

"How high is thing going to go?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Rick replied.

The upward motion of the sleigh came to a halt. The sleigh began to move slowly forwards.

"We're moving again." Rick said.

"I hope you're right about this, Rick." Kate said.

"You'll see." He assured her.

The sleigh sailed over the warehouse and the Great Wrapping Hall, and then flew over a series of factory roof tops. Kate looked down and saw that they were flying over houses and apartment buildings. She also saw hundreds of elves walking along the streets, they all seemed to be going in the same direction.

Kate realised that she was still holding onto the bell. Looking about her she found the spot from where the bell had fallen and retied it back in place. As much as she wanted to keep it she knew that she could not. It was not hers to keep. A small part of her would like to have a bell like this one. Once more she looked down as the sleigh sailed over more houses.

Kate felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked around and a still smiling Rick. He pointed directly in front of him. Kate turned her gaze to where he was pointing. In the distance Kate saw a large silvery glow.

"That's where we're going, Kate." Rick informed her,

XXXXX

_**Your thoughts on this latest offering would be most appreciated it.**_

_**Con **_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Kate marvelled at the sights that unfolded before her eyes as the sleigh sailed past. The rows of factories gave way and now they were flying over houses with snow covered roofs from where elves were emerging and joined all the other elves already on the streets. She could hear the excited murmur of the voices rising up to her. Kate could also hear Christmas music that was a festive underscoring to what was happening below.

Kate lifted her gaze from the sights below and looked across to her companion beside her. Rick was leaning out the side of the sleigh and looking down. If he leaned out any further and he might have fallen out. She thought about reaching out and pulling him back into the sleigh. Sensing that he was being watched Rick straightened up and turned his head. His face broke into a big wide smile.

"And you wanted to go the other way." He said with a laugh.

Kate smiled back as she shook her head at him. She had to admit that she might have been wrong by wanting to go the other way, the way she had seen the elves take when they departed from the Great Wrapping Hall. Had she taken that route she would have been down there on one of the streets and she would have missed on seeing the spectacular view from the air.

"Isn't this awesome, Kate?" Rick said excitedly.

"Yeah, it is." Kate replied.

"Now do you believe there's a North Pole?"

Kate arched an eyebrow at Rick.

"There's always been a North Pole, Rick."

"No, I mean this." Rick said waving his hand about. "Santa's North Pole."

Kate had to concede that what she saw all around her seemed real enough, certainly it was better than any dream she could conjure up. She tried to remember the last time she had this much fun. There had been a couple of moments that were bad or unhappy for her but the rest, so far, had been fun. She could not remember the last time she had laughed or smiled so much.

It was in that moment that the thought occurred to Kate that a lot of the reasons why she had been smiling so much was because of the boy sitting beside her. His exuberance was infectious, there did not appear too much that could keep him down for long.

The other thing that Kate had come to realise was that she felt comfortable in his company.

Kate saw Rick watching her with an eager, expectant smile on his face. She realised that he was waiting on a response from her. Slowly she schooled her face. There was nothing wrong with having a bit of fun with him, she thought.

"This isn't Santa's North Pole." she announced.

"What!" Rick spluttered. "Not Santa's..."

"Nope."

"You can't be..."

"Yep."

"But...but..."

Rick was suddenly lost for words. His eyes swept the scene around them before being drawn back to Kate. Her face was a mask. How could she not believe what her eyes were showing her, he thought to himself. How could she not believe after all she had seen? He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out.

Rick heard sniggering coming from behind him. He whipped around to find Kevin struggling very hard not to laugh. He narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"She got you man." Kevin sniggered.

Rick turned to look at Kate and saw a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Her hazel eyes sparkled with amusement.

"You." Rick muttered.

"Got you!" Kate laughed.

For some moments all Rick could do was stare at Kate as she laughed. Slowly he smiled and quickly joined in the laughter.

"So easy." Kate said.

"Not funny, Kate." Rick said, trying to sound stern but failing as he was not able to stop smiling.

"Too funny, Rick." Kate replied.

The laughter ran its natural course before Rick spoke again.

"So you do believe that this is Santa's North Pole?"

Kate cocked her head to one side as she looked over to Rick, regarding him for a moment or two.

"I'll concede that the possibility may exist." Kate said carefully.

Rick's face brightened. He nodded his head.

"That's good enough." He said. "I'll take that."

The sleigh now sailed over a small forest of pine trees, the branches were dusted with a coating of recent snow. The sleigh rose higher into the air to clear the tops of the taller trees.

Kate could see the paths that cut through the forest and saw the procession of elves. She had never seen so many elves. Well, she had never seen a real life elf before. The only ones she had ever seen had been on television and in films but in films and television there had never been as many as there were right here. She also saw a railway line running along one of the paths.

She lifted her gaze from the scene below and suddenly let out a gasp of surprise. Beyond the line of pine trees was a very large town square. To the left of the square were a row of red brick buildings and in front of the buildings was a railway platform. Sitting along side the platform was the Polar Express.

On the opposite side of the railway platform was a very large red brick mansion. It was three storeys high and the walls and roof were decorated with bright festive lights, tinsel and holly as was the path that led from the front portico to the town square. All the lights in the mansion were ablaze and they shone brightly out of all the windows.

Directly ahead rose the tallest Christmas tree Kate had ever seen in a ll her life. It was taller than the trees she had been taken by her mom and dad to see at Rockerfeller Centre, and taller than the National Christmas tree at the White House. This brilliantly decorated, sparkling Christmas tree seemed to rise and rise high into the sky. The large twinkling star that sat atop of the tree seemed to be a part of the sky.

The town square was a swarming mass of reds and browns, greens and whites as the elves came from all over the town to congregate here. They formed up in orderly rows that from high in the air took on the appearance of a six pointed star.

Kate was able to drag her eyes from the scene ahead and looked at Rick. She saw the look of shear wonderment painted on his face. He looked like all of his dreams had come true. She reached out and took hold of his hand.

Startled at the touch his eyes lowered to see who had taken hold of his hand. Lifting his gaze he smiled brightly at Kate. A smile that Kate was more than happy to return. She gave his hand another squeeze.

"I got a question." Kevin said.

Both Kate and Rick turned to look at the boy sitting in the back seat. Kevin was staring down at the gathering elves below.

"We're listening." Rick said.

Kevin sat up and looked at Rick.

"Why is everyone gathering in the town square?"

"Don't you know?"

Kevin shook his head. Rick glanced at Kate, giving her a questioning look. Kate shook her head. She did not know.

"Do you?" She asked.

"Yeah." Rick said.

Well, what is it?" Kevin said.

Rick did not respond immediately.

"You don't know, do you?" Kate accused.

"I do so." Rick insisted.

"No you don't."

"I do so."

"Okay, hotshot, why is every one gathered in the town square?" Kate challenged.

Rick glanced at Kevin and then back at Kate. A smile appeared on his face.

"Every Christmas Eve, just before Santa gets in his sleigh and sets off to deliver all the presents to the waiting children around the world, he selects one lucky person to receive the first gift of Christmas. It's a very great honour to receive the first gift of Christmas. Very special." Rick informed them.

Kate narrowed her eyes at what Rick had said.

"How do you know this?"

"I read it somewhere once." Rick said.

"One of your stories, was it?"

"Actually, it was in a book I read a long time ago."

Kate nodded her head slowly. She tried very hard to keep the scepticism from her face but was not doing a very good job of it. Rick did not take offence at her disbelief, he merely smiled knowingly as he was say that Kate would see soon.

"So how do we get down from here?" Kevin said.

"Good question." Rick said absently, his eyes were holding Kate's gaze. "I...I...guess we will have to wait and see."

The sleigh reached the centre of the town square and stopped. Below a wide area had been cleared for the sleigh and the cargo that it carried. It hovered above the landing area and the kids in the sleigh heard the murmuring bubbling up from the gathered masses.

On a silent command the sleigh began to descend slowly and steadily.

"I think there's your answer, Kevin." Rick announced.

The ground grew larger with each passing moment. Then the skids of the sleigh touched the ground. Loud cheering and applause broke out from the assembled masses. The ropes that were attached to the sleigh broke free and rose into the air as the hot air balloons sailed away from the town square.

Rick, Kate and Kevin stared wide eyed at all the elves who continued to cheer and applaud. Rick suddenly broke out into a big smile and he started waving to the crowd. Kate glanced over to him and saw what he was doing. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at his antics. Rick jumped down to the ground and turned and offered up his hand to Kate. Kate took his hand and climbed down from the sleigh. Kevin quickly joined them.

Suddenly a swarm of brown leather jacketed elves rushed to the sleigh and began to check it out like a ground crew preparing an aircraft for flight. Another group of elves lead a team of reindeer and began to harness them to the sleigh. Four of the reindeer had very impressive antlers and they were harnessed at the head of the team.

"Isn't that awesome?" Rick said as he watched as Santa's sleigh was made ready.

"Hey, where's Rudolph?" Kevin questioned.  
"I don't think they need his talent tonight, it's a clear night." Kate replied.

She saw Rick looking at her.

"I may not believe doesn't mean I don't know the stories." Kate explained.

"Sure you don't believe." Rick said in a low voice.

"Hey, we're not having that argument right now."

"Okay, okay." Rick held up his hands in surrender.

From out of the crowd there emerged a stern looking Conductor Montgomery. He marched up to where Rick, Kate and Kevin were standing.

"There you three are." Conductor Montgomery said. His eyes settled on Kate. "You again, I might have known you would have been behind this."

Rick frowned at what the conductor was saying to Kate. He stepped forward to stand partly in front of Kate and looked up at the less than pleased looking conductor.

"It was not her fault." He said firmly.

"Oh, really?" Conductor Montgomery said with raised eyebrows. "And pray tell me Mr Rodgers, who is responsible for decoupling the observation carriage from the Polar Express and having me frantically looking for three missing children?"

Rick glanced quickly at Kevin and saw the boy looking embarrassed. Kevin had told him that he had accidentally decoupled the carriage after Kate had gone to find the brake. Rick focused his gaze at the conductor and stared at him without flinching.

"It was me, sir."

"You, Mr Rodgers?"

"Yes, sir."

Conductor Montgomery regarded Rick for a moment before looking at Kate and then Kevin. His moustache twitched as he regarded the three children in turn before they settled on Rick again. He leaned closer to Rick.

"Please don't do it again, young man." Conductor Montgomery said.

"Y...yes sir."

Rick was surprised. He had been expecting to be in trouble. He was used to getting in trouble. '_don't do it again'._ That was all he was going to get? He could not believe it.

Conductor Montgomery turned on his heels. He motioned to Rick, Kate and Kevin to follow.

"Come along you three, it's almost time. Follow me." Conductor Montgomery called out as he started walking.

"Hey, thanks man." Kevin said in a grateful tone.

"Don't sweat it." Rick replied, with a grin.

Rick felt a hand on his arm. Glancing over he found Kate walking beside him holding his arm. He saw the small smile on her face.

"Thanks Rick." she said.

"Hey, I'm used to getting into trouble." Rick replied. "Thought I'd take one for the team."

They followed the conductor to a roped off area alongside the path that ran from the mansion to the centre of the town square. There they found all the other kids from the train. Kate saw Will standing at the far end of the line. She saw the bruising under his eyes and his nose seemed to be a little skewed. She could not help but wonder how hard Rick had hit him. Will caught sight of Kate looking at him but he quickly looked away.

"Hey, girlfriend." Lanie called out." Where have you been?"

Lanie reached out and wrapped her arms around Kate, giving her a hug. Will was quickly forgotten.

"We've been on a little adventure." Kate informed her.

"With writer-boy no less." Lanie added, laughing.

"Kevin was there too." Kate retorted. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn.

"Mmm-mmm must be serious if you be needing a chaperone."

"Lanie!" Kate gasped.

Kate's friend laughed again.

"Where you been, bro." Javi asked his friend. "They've been looking everywhere for you."

Kevin heard his friend but his eyes on Jenny who was smiling shyly at him.

"I'll tell you later, man." Kevin said as he approached Jenny, and smiled at her.

Javi looked at his friend and smirked.

"Whipped, already." He muttered under his breath.

Kate moved away from her friend's clutches and walked until she was standing beside Rick. He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back at him.

A crescendo of trumpets sounded across the town square. The trumpets sounded like they came from all four corners of the town square but there was no sign of them. A hush fell across the entire town square. Every pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the mansion. Slowly the great hand carved wooden double doors swung open and a flood of brilliant light spilled out.

Kate saw a tall rotund figure appear in the doorway. She felt the ripple of excitement surging through the crowd. She heard the whispered '_Santa' _fall from many lips, including Rick's. Looking at him she how animated his face looked. He looked just like a little kid who had received his first Christmas present. She was about to shake her head but stopped herself but smile instead.

The rotund figure standing in the doorway was silhouetted because of the brilliant light coming from within the mansion. He did not move for some moments as if he was taking in the sight that was before him. Then the rotund man let out a hearty laugh as he stepped forward. A great roar erupted from everyone standing in the town square.

Kate stared at the rotund man as he stepped into the light.

"SANTA!" Rick shouted beside her. "It's Santa!"

Kate had to admit that he did looked life Santa Claus, dressed in the suit of red with white trimmed fur and thick black leather belt with a silver buckle cinched around his middle. His snow white whiskers were neatly trimmed and seemed to cover his entire face, his snow white hair peaked from beneath his red hat with the white pom pom at the end of it. His bewhiskered face was smiling as he strolled slowly along the cleared path. He waved to the elves on either side of the path letting out a hearty laugh every now and then.

"Look Kate, it's Santa!" Rick shouted.

"Yeah, I can see him." Kate replied, smiling.

"Isn't it great?"

"Yeah."

To Kate the reaction from the crowd was like some rock concert with the appearance of the star act.

"Look, his coming this way, oh boy."

Kate could not but help laugh at the way Rick was reacting.

Santa came to stand before the children from the Polar Express.

"Merry Christmas, children."

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, SANTA!" The kids all shouted back in unison. All the kids except for Kate. She stood there just staring at the big man dressed in red.

Santa Claus laughed. A big loud belly laugh as he rocked on his feet. His twinkling eyes swept the line of children up and down until they finally came to a halt in front of Kate. His bearded smile grew deeper as he regarded Kate. Kate felt her cheeks start to warm up.

"So very good to see you, Katie." Santa said in a deep melodious voice.

"It's Kate." Kate corrected.

"Oh, my mistake." Santa said with a laugh. "Good to see you, Kate."

"Good to see you too...Santa." Kate replied, grounding out his name.

"I hear you had a bit of an adventure, getting here?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders and gave him a shy smile. "Kind of."

"Well, I'm glad you're here."

Kate nodded her head.

Santa smiled even more as he nodded his head and resumed walking. Kate felt her shoulder being bumped. Looking around she saw looking at her.

"You got to talk to Santa." He said. "I'm sooo jealous."

"You'll get over it." Kate replied, bumping his shoulder back. Rick laughed.

Santa cleared the path and approached his waiting sleigh and reindeer. As he reached it he stopped and turned around. A hush returned to the town square, anticipation rising. Kate could feel Rick hoping on one foot and then the other, barely containing his excitement. She smiled at his antics.

"To receive the first Gift Of Christmas..." Santa called out. "I call forth...Ricky Rodgers."

Kate let out a loud gasp of surprise but it was drowned out in the roar that erupted from every corner of the town square. She turned to Rick and found him standing stock still, a look of genuine shock was deeply etched on his face. Too stunned to move.

Without thinking about it Kate pulled him into a hug of congratulations. That was enough to reanimate Rick.

"He picked me." Rick muttered. "He picked me. Wow."

"Congratulations, Rick." Kate said before she released him.

Soon other children moved in to congratulate him, slapping him on the back.

"Come on, Ricky, don't keep Santa waiting." Conductor Montgomery said.

Rick almost sprinted down the path to where Santa was standing.

"Thank you, Santa." Rick gushed. Santa laughed in response.

Santa raised a gloved hand above his hand and almost immediately the cheering and yelling died down. Santa then leaned down a little, looking at Rick.

"So what would like for Christmas, Ricky?" Santa asked in a low voice.

Rick suddenly found himself tongue tied. He had a whole list of presents in his head from which to choose from. He had been adding and subtracting that list for over a week but now that the moment had arrived, a moment he did not expect, he could not speak.

Nervously Rick looked over to where the children from the Polar Express were standing. Amongst them he found Kate and saw that she was smiling brightly, smiling at him, happy that he had been the one picked to receive the first gift of Christmas. It was the same kind of smile that he had seen on her face when she had heard the sound of the silver bell. He held her gaze for a few moments.

With a startling clarity Rick realised what he wanted. He shot Kate a smile before he turned back to look at Santa.

"Have you decided on a gift, Ricky?"

"I have, Santa."

"Of all the toys you have ever wished, of all the gifts you have ever wanted, tell me of it now and it shall be yours, the First Gift of Christmas." Santa said.

Rick looked nervously at the old man dressed in red. He beckoned him to lean further. Santa chuckled and leaned closer to Rick.

"I want one of the silver bells from your sleigh." Rick whispered hurriedly.

"Oh?"

"But it's not for me, Santa."

"Indeed?" A look of surprise creased Santa's bewhiskered face.

"Yeah, it's for my friend, Kate."

"Really?"

"Yes, you see..."

"Oh, I know all about Kate." Santa whispered back.

"I want her to have the First Gift of Christmas."

Santa straightened up and placed a hand on Rick's shoulder.

"There is no greater gift than friendship, young man." Santa told him. "Well done."

Santa reached over to his sleigh and untied one of the silver bells. He looked at Rick with a smile.

"Shall we give the present to her together?" He said.

"Sounds like a plan, Santa." Rick replied, smiling up at the Big Man.

There was a growing murmur as everyone in the town square watched as Santa and Rick came walking back to where the children from the train were standing. The smile on Kate's face faded and then vanished completely when Santa came to a halt in front of her. She saw Rick beaming at her and she furrowed her brows at him in a questioning look but that made him only smile even more.

"The First Gift of Christmas." Santa called out as he lifted his right hand in the air, showing the silver bell to everyone to everyone assembled.

As cheering and shouting erupted from the assembled elves, Kate watched wide eyed as Santa brought down his hand and held the silver bell out to her. There was more cheering and shouting but Kate did not hear it. She reached out with an open hand. Santa placed the silver bell in her palm.

"Merry Christmas Kate."

"M...M...Merry Christmas, Santa." Kate stammered. She stared at the bell in her hand.

Kate slowly closed her hand over the silver bell and gave it a shake. The magical sound could be heard. The shocked look on her face dissolved instantly and was replaced with a wide beaming smile. On seeing it, Rick knew that he had done the right thing.

Kate was surrounded by her friends and the other children from the train.

Rick glanced up at Santa before looking over to a smiling and laughing Kate.

"We did good, Santa."

"Yes, Ricky, I think we did." Santa chuckled. "How is Martha, by the way?"

"Oh, she's goo..." Rick suddenly shot a look at the big man in red. "Wait, you know my mother?"

"Yes I know your mother." Santa said with a hearty chuckle.

"How do you know my mother?"

"Well..." A guilty look creased the old man's bewhiskered face. "Well...umm...we met a very long time ago."

"Oh."

"Long before I met Mrs Claus." He added in a low voice.

"Oh, I see." Rick nodded his head in understanding.

Rick knew about his mother's boyfriends, or as she preferred to call them, gentlemen callers.

Rick narrowed his eyes at Santa as a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, your not my..."

"No." Santa interjected quickly and firmly. Shaking his head for added emphasis.

"You wouldn't happen to know by any chance?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Sure about that?"

"Will you look at the time." Santa said hurriedly as he started to move away. "No time to talk, I have to get going or all the children wont get their presents."

Rick stood there open mouthed as he watched Santa Claus run as fast he could to his sleigh and jump into it. He had never seen an old man run that fast before.

"Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen!" Santa called out as he picked up the reins of the reindeer team. "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!"

The reindeer team slowly came to life, all of them lifting their heads and looking up to the clear night sky. Effortlessly they lifted off the ground pulling the sleigh with Santa and the huge sack of toys into the air. Santa and the reindeer climbed higher and higher into the air, speeding up with each passing moment.

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" Santa called out in his most heartiest tone of voice.

Rick stared up watching the departing figure of Santa Claus. In the blink of an eye, the big jolly old fellow disappeared from sight. Rick slowly turned his gaze from the sky and looked at Kate. He found her staring at him, her hazel eyes, shinning with happiness. He smiled back at her.

XXXXX

_**Your thoughts on this particularr effort would be appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Conductor Montgomery stared up into the clear night sky until he lost sight of Santa and his reindeer team. He wore a bright smile and felt pleased that Santa had departed once again on Christmas Eve to bring toys to all the girls and boys. He also felt pleased that he had been able to bring another group of children to see Santa off.

Conductor Montgomery pulled out his fob watch and checked the time. He slowly nodded his head as he put away the watch and surveyed the children. They were laughing and cheering, mingling with the elves who had broken ranks. This was always the hard part, trying to get the children back on the train and return them home.

"All aboard!" Conductor Montgomery shouted. "All aboard, the train is about to depart."

He started to herd the children towards the direction of the waiting train. Many of the children were reluctant to leave. The sharp blast of the train's steam whistle soon had them quickly moving.

Rick and Kate were at the tail of the procession making its way to the train. Rick glanced at Kate and saw the bright smile on her face. Kate was still holding the silver bell that Santa had given her. After Santa had given her the bell she had been surrounded by the other children all eager to see the First Gift of Christmas. She gave the bell another shake and on hearing the beautiful sound from the bell she let out a breathless laugh. Rick smiled even more at the sight.

"You'd better put it in your pocket." Rick suggested. "You don't want to lose it, do you?"

"I guess you're right."

Kate shoved the bell into the pocket of her robe.

"For a moment there, I thought I might have lost you in that crowd." Rick said.

"Worried about me, were you?" Kate said, glancing at him.

Rick shrugged his shoulders.

"I did not want to miss out in basking in the glow of your popularity." Rick grinned.

Kate laughed as she bumped his shoulder. He bumped her back.

They reached the last carriage of the train. Rick paused at the steps and looked down the length of the train and saw the other children climbing into the carriages. Rick motioned to Kate to climb up first. Kate gave him a nod of thanks as she climbed up the steps. Rick quickly followed her up.

Kate entered the carriage and started moving towards her seat. As she approached she was in two minds whether to sit down in her seat and invite Rick to join her or to sit down on his side of the aisle.

The train suddenly jerked and jolted sharply into motion. Kate stumbled and lost her balance and began to topple backwards. Her fall was abruptly stopped by an arm around her back.

"You okay?" Rick asked, sounding a little worried.

"Yeah, thanks." Kate replied, a little breathlessly. Kate steadied her footing, feeling a little foolish at having almost fallen. She also noticed that Rick's hand had settled in the middle of her back, guiding her to her seat.

Kate settled by the window seat and Rick sat down beside her. Well, that was one little problem solved, she thought to herself. She turned her attention out the window and watched as the train moved steadily through the town of the North Pole.

The children in the carriage seemed a little subdued compared to how they had been carrying on when the train was travelling to the North Pole. It was as if their excitement had waned or they were tired and sleepy. Kate did not mind that. She was feeling a little tired from all the excitement that had occurred during the evening.

Soon the houses had passed behind and now the train had picked up speed as it travelled through a pine tree forest.

"So, did you have fun, Kate?"

Kate slowly turned away from the window to look at Rick. There was a thoughtful look on her face as she considered his question... Slowly a smile spread across her face as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, I did."

"I'd glad to hear that." Rick said with a smile.

"Hey, girlfriend." Lanie called out as she approached. With her was Javi.

Lanie could not keep at bay the smile on her face on seeing Rick sitting next to Kate.

"Hey, guys."

"Javi wants to hear the bell." Lanie announced.

"I do not." Javi said, quickly. Shaking his head.

"You do so." Lanie shot back looking at Javi.

Kate chuckled at her friends' antics. She was sure that Javi wanted to hear the bell but did not want to come out and ask so he had gotten Lanie to do the asking. Kate did not mind, she was happy to ring the bell. She reached into her pocket.

Kate's smile faltered as she she shoved her hand deeper into the pocket. The bell was not there. Her fingers pushed through a large hole in the bottom of the pocket. Quickly she checked the other pocket but that was empty as well.

"Is there something wrong?" Rick asked. He had noticed that Kate had gone pale.

"I can't find it." Kate said worriedly. "I can't find the bell."

Kate jumped to her feet.

"I must have dropped it."

"Don't worry it couldn't have gone far." Rick said. He too got to his feet. "It must have fallen out when you almost fell."

Kate dropped to her knees and began to search around her seat and under it. Rick moved to the back of the carriage and also began to search for the lost bell. Lanie and Javi also joined the search.

"It's not here." Kate said, tearfully.

"It'll turn up." Rick assured her.

They searched the entire carriage not once or twice but three times. All the children in the carriage also searched the area around them but no sign of the bell could be found. Kate returned to her seat and stared out the window. There were tears in her eyes but she refused to cry in front of her friends. Lanie tried to console her friend but Kate was inconsolable, shrugging off her friend's attempts.

Lanie eventually gave up trying. She and Javi both said they were sorry and decided to leave her alone.

Kate felt miserable, tears silently rolled down her face as she stared out into the darkness. She could not stop them from falling. How could she lose the bell? How could she be so careless? When she held that silver bell in the sleigh she had remembered that scene of a Christmas past not so long ago, of helping her parents to trim the Christmas tree. When she had shaken the bell and heard its wonderful sound, other visions of her mother appeared. Happy scenes of what she used to do with her mother around Christmas. She had been startled about how much she had forgotten in these past couple of years. She did not want to forget.

Rick after he had searched the carriage several times had gone to find Conductor Montgomery and report the loss of Kate's bell. Conductor Montgomery was saddened to hear that Kate had lost the bell but had promised to keep an eye out for it. Rick had thanked the conductor and quickly made his way back to the carriage.

As he reached the seat he found Kate curled up close to the window staring out into the darkness. He saw her reflection in the window and saw her cheeks were shiny from the silent tears that she had shed. His heart broke at seeing her this way. Quietly he sat down beside her.

"It's not on the train." Rick said in a low voice. Looking and feeling dejected. "I think you might have dropped it before we got on board."

Kate snuffled back some tears but did not respond. She continued to stare out the window.

Rick watched Kate for some minutes in silence. He did not like seeing her like this. It had not been all that long ago when she had been smiling and laughing, and he liked seeing her like that. He was feeling at loss about what to do that could cheer her up. He remained silent, just watching her and thinking.

"Can I tell you something?" Rick said in a low voice, breaking the long silence that had descended between them.

Kate startled at the sound of Rick's voice. Quickly she wiped the tears from her face before slowly turning to look at Rick. She silently looked at him.

"You don't need the bell to believe." Rick told her. "You don't need the bell to remember."

Kate frowned at him before she turned away from his gentle gaze back to the window.

"You're afraid you will forget your mother." Rick stated.

"No." Kate snapped.

"Yes." Rick said gently.

Kate turned her head and shot him a glare.

Rick smiled despite the anger directed at him. He was pleased that he had gotten a response out of her, even if it was an angry glare.

"Kate, look at me." He urged. Kate did not respond.

"Please look at me, Kate."

For some moments Kate did not respond and Rick thought she was ignoring him. Slowly Kate turned to face him. There was a blank expression on her face.

"You wont forget your mom." Rick told her. "Because the memories are not up here." Rick pointed to his head. Kate silently stared at him. A twitch of her eyebrows was the only reaction he received.

"They are right here." Rick placed his hand over his heart. "And the heart doesn't forget. It never forgets."

The look on Kate's face softened as she regarded Rick.

"In time you will remember her with a smile on your face. All the fun times you had with her. All those wonderful times you shared with her at Christmas. The birthdays, and the special occasions. All the fun, the laughter, the joy. You will remember because those memories are far, far stronger than any painful memory of loss."

There was the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of lips as Kate continued to look at Rick. Slowly she shifted closer to him. Rick leaned towards her and reached out and took her hand giving it a comforting squeeze.

They sat in silence for a length of time and for Rick that was fine by him.

"A few days before Christmas my mom would bake." Kate said, breaking the silence. Rick glanced at Kate but did not speak, waiting for her to continue. "She would make these wonderful gingerbread Santas and reindeer cookies. I would help her bake them and then also to decorate them."

Rick smiled and nodded his head.

"She loved to collect ornaments for the tree, beautiful crystal ornaments, or plastic ones. She especially loved the ornaments I made at school, funny looking Santas or reindeer that looked like rats. They always held pride of place on the tree."

Rick listened avidly as Kate recounted some of the things that she and her parents did around Christmas time. He laughed when she laughed and when she fell silent he would encourage another story out of her. Somewhere along the way Kate rested her head against his shoulder.

XXX

Rick felt the train jerk to a halt. He blinked open his eyes realising that he had been dozing. He looked out the window and saw a very familiar sight, his apartment building. He felt Kate stir beside him. Looking over he saw Kate open her eyes. A look of surprise crossed her face when she realised that she had been sleeping on his shoulder. She sat up quickly trying not to look embarrassed. Lifting up her eyes she saw Rick smiling gently at her.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"Yeah." Kate replied, a small smile rising to her lips. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Rick motioned to the window, his smile dropping.

"Umm, this is my stop." he said in a low voice.

Kate's smile slipped as she glanced out the window and then quickly looked back at Rick.

"I guess you have to go." she said.

"Yeah."

As much as he was happy to have come home Rick realised that he did not want to leave Kate's side. He really enjoyed her company. He slowly rose to his feet but he continued to look at Kate.

"Maybe...umm, we could...umm...you could come over?" Rick stammered, unable to say the words he wanted to say to her.

"Yes, I'd like that." Kate said, quickly. She glanced out the window. "Now that I know where you live."

Kate turned back to face Rick and she smiled at him. He returned the smile.

"Mr Rodgers." Conductor Montgomery called out.

Rick turned his head and saw Conductor Montgomery standing in the doorway, he held his fob watch in his hand.

"There are other children wanting to go home." Conductor Montgomery said.

Rick nodded his head. He turned to look at Kate.

"See you soon?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Merry Christmas, Kate."

"Merry Christmas, Rick."

Rick slowly stepped into the aisle. All of a sudden Kate jumped to her feet.

"Rick, thank you for everything." She said.

"Always." Rick said with a smile.

Kate stepped up to Rick and threw her arms around his neck pulling him closer and kissed him on the lips.

"Always." Kate whispered as she released him

Rick felt his face burn as the blood rose to his cheeks. He had not quite expected that. The remaining children started roaring and cheering, some were clapping, others were making remarks. He broke into a big beaming smile. He waved goodbye to the other children, gave Kate one final smile and headed down the isle to where Conductor Montgomery was waiting.

Conductor Montgomery smiled down at him and motioned him to platform.

Rick jumped to the ground and landed in the snow. He turned and looked up to the carriage.

"Merry Christmas Conductor Montgomery."

"Merry Christmas Rick." Conductor Montgomery smiled.

Rick raced towards the front doors of his apartment building. On reaching them he stopped and turned. He heard the train blow its whistle and start to pull away. He waved to it. As it disappeared, he turned opened the door and ran inside. He wore a big beaming smile on his face as he raced across the lobby.

XXXXX

_**Your thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Kate blinked open her eyes and found herself in the familiar surrounds of her bedroom. She was in her bed in her own room. The bedroom was bathed in the dull grey light of dawn that spilled through her window. She lay on her side and gazed at the window watching flakes of snow fluttering past like dancing fairies.

For some moments she stared at the window as her mind tried hard to hold onto the dream that she had experienced. This one had not been like the normal nightmares that had plagued her from time to time. The corners of her lips slowly stretched upwards into the beginning of a smile as she recalled the dream. As dreams went this one had been a pleasant experience. It had been fun.

Her friends Lanie, Javi and Kevin had been in the dream and they all had been on a train. And she remembered the boy with the blue eyes. The one who had made her smile and laugh, the one who had stood up for her. The one who had refused to leave her when she had wanted to cry. The one who had comforted her. Her smile faltered as she struggled to remember his name. What was his name? Rick! His name was Rick. The smile returned in full force as his name came to her. Yes, Rick.

And she also remembered meeting Santa Claus. She let out a soft little chuckle at the absurdity of meeting someone who did not exist. Santa Claus looked exactly like the ones she had seen in the movies, just like the ones that were in the big department stores. But this Santa Claus had been different.

What she could not shake off was the feeling that the dream felt so very real to her. Everyone one in the dream had felt real. There was a part of her that wished that the dream had been real.

Kate rolled onto her back as she came fully awake. She did not need to look at the clock sitting on the night stand to know that it was still very early. It would still be at least an hour or more before the sun rose. She wanted to close her eyes and go back to sleep to try and recapture the dream but already it was fading rapidly. All that remained was the warm feeling she had of it.

Letting out a long sigh, Kate threw aside her blanket and slowly rose into a sitting position. She rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes. Stifling back a yawn Kate rose off the bed. Though it was still early she thought she would make breakfast for her father. That was the least she could do she figured.

It was going to be a long day today. She did not know which member of the family had invited them for Christmas Lunch but she was sure one of them must have. She would ask her father later on. She would have to be on her best behaviour today, she reminded herself. As hard as it was going to be she would at least try.

Kate remembered that in the dream that Lanie had invited her over for Christmas lunch. She shook off that idea. It was only a dream, Kate reminded herself. She would call Lanie some time during the morning to wish her a 'Merry Christmas'.

Kate's eyes fell to her night stand and to the exercise book that was sitting there beside the clock. A frown creased her face as she stared at the exercise book. The frown deepened as she continued to stare at the book. She had not left the book there she was sure of that. What she also sure about was that she did not use that kind of exercise book. Perhaps her father must have left it there during the night while she had been sleeping, she thought to herself. Yes, that must be it. Why he would do something like she did not know.

Kate was about to turn away from the night stand when she paused and focused on the book again. This book looked familiar. She had seen it somewhere before. She reached out and slowly picked up the exercise book.

Opening the book to the first page Kate's eyes widened in surprise. She let out a gasp of surprise as she stared at the front page. Her mouth fell open. She closed the book and shook her head. No this could not be right, she thought to herself. She must still be still asleep and dreaming she thought to herself.

Some minutes past before Kate slowly opened the exercise book to the first page again and read the inscription.

_To the Extraordinary Kate. Believe, Always._

_Merry Christmas_

_Rick_

How could it be Kate wondered to herself. It had been a dream, just a dream. But was it just a dream a small voice in her head whispered, nothing but a dream? Yet how could it have been just a dream when she was holding evidence of it being more than just a dream?

Once more Kate read the dedication that Rick had written and she smiled. She could not help but smile at his words and his thoughts. He thought her extraordinary? Wow.

Kate settled back on her bed and turned the page to the start of the story he had written. She had barely finished the first page before she was engrossed by the story. Her eyes flew across the words that had been written in a neat script.

She could not believe it but had Rick had written the story just the way she had suggested to him. What was different was the boy was not the hero of the story but the girl. It was the girl who curious and inquisitive and wanted to solve the mystery of Santa's missing magic sleigh. The boy was her loyal partner in mystery solving. Standing beside her, steadfast and true, ready with a wisecrack and silent support. Parts of the story mirrored the journey she and Rick had experienced and parts of the story touched her very own life and experiences.

It was a great story without doubt but what had gripped Kate was the words of hope that Rick had weaved into the story that seemed were only for her. That the darkness would not last for ever and there was light if you only looked for it. Kate held onto those words of hope.

"Hey, Katie."

Kate was startled by the sound of her father's voice. She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. She had been so engrossed in the reading Rick's story that she had not heard him. He was dressed in a robe, his hair still ruffled from recent sleep but there was a small smile on his face.

"Hey, Daddy." Kate smiled.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Daddy."

Jim Beckett smiled a little more as he gazed at his daughter.

"You want to come down and help me make breakfast?" He asked.

"Yes, Daddy."

Kate closed the exercise book and carefully placed it in the top drawer of her night stand. She got out of bed, slipped her feet into the slippers on the floor beside the bed and went over to where her father was standing. She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"Did you sleep well, Katie-bug?"

"Yeah." Kate nodded.

"After breakfast we'll open up the presents. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good."

Kate was seated on the floor in front of the Christmas tree with torn and discarded Christmas wrapping paper strewn all around her. She had received a number of presents, a new dress from an aunt, a couple of books from her father and a few other items.

"Hey, there seems to be one last present under the tree." Jim said.

Kate watched as her father reached under the tree and pulled out a small square gift wrapped box. He looked at the card that was stuck to the top of the gift.

"It's for you."

Jim passed the gift to his daughter. Kate frowned at she looked at the card that had her name written on it. She quickly tore off the wrapping paper to find a small green and red cardboard box. She removed the lid and peered inside the box. Her eyes widened with surprise. Sitting on a bed of cotton wool was the silver bell that she had been given by Santa. Kate took the bell from the box and noticed there was a note. She took out the note and read it.

"_I found this when I got home. _

_Thought it might belong to you._

_Better fix that hole in your pocket._

_Merry Christmas._

_S.C."_

Kate smiled at the note.

"What a beautiful bell." Jim remarked on seeing the bell. "Who's it from?"

"Santa Claus." Kate said without hesitation.

Her father laughed. Kate had not heard her father laugh in a long time. Kate gave the bell a shake and a brilliant smile broke across her face on hearing the sweet, beautiful smile.

"It doesn't seem to be working, Katie-bug." Jim said with a sad smile. "It must be broken."

Jim Beckett rose from the floor gathering up the discarded Christmas paper wrappings and left the room.

Kate shook the bell and continued to smile at the beautiful sound that it had made. The smile on her face grew deeper when she realised that it had not been a dream, it had all been real.

XXXXX

_**Let me know what you thought of this chapter. There is just one more chapter to go, a short epilogue.**_

_**Con **_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Epilogue

"_At one time all of Katie's friends could hear the bell. But as the years passed, it fell silent for all of them, one by one. Well, almost all of them. Katie and Ricky continued to hear it's sweet sound. Now that they've grown up, the bell still rings true for them."_

"The end."

Richard Castle closed the book he had just finished reading aloud and beamed down at the smiling faces of his two children sitting on the rug in front of his armchair. They were dressed as elves. The two cutest elves Castle had ever seen. He too had gotten into the spirit of the season as only he could by donning a Santa suit. It would not have been Christmas if he did not get into the spirit of the season.

"Now it's time for all good little elves to go to bed." He announced.

The children were about to protest but Castle quickly put his finger to his lips and cast a look in the direction of the couch where his wife was stretched out and asleep. The two children turned their heads to where their father was looking and silenced immediately.

"We don't want to wake mommy, now do we?" He said in a low voice.

Two small heads moved from side to side to indicate they did not want to wake up their mother.

They knew that mommy had come home after a long, hard day at work catching bad people, feeling tired and had fallen asleep half way through the story.

"Mommy is already awake." Said a sleepy sounding Kate Beckett.

Kate opened one hazel green eye and then the other and looked on the faces of her children. A warm smile spread across her face. The children rose from the floor. Kate eased up from the couch and scooped her children into a big fierce hug.

Castle looked on the scene watching the children kissing their mother and he beamed brightly, his heart fit to burst.

"Merry Christmas, Mommy."

"Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Merry Christmas my darlings." Kate kissed both her children and hugged them again.

After being released by their mother the children moved across to their father and hugged and kissed him.

"Now off to bed the both of you." Castle said. "We can't have Santa finding you awake or there'll be no presents."

The children raced out of the living room to the stairs.

"And no running up the stairs!" Castle called out.

"Yes dad." They chorused as they stopped at the foot of the stairs and climbed them at a more sedate pace.

Castle looked towards his wife and smiled.

"You did good with those two." He said, motioning to the stairs at their departing children.

Kate returned the smile with equal warmth. "I had good help." She said. "And, I had good training with you, Rick."

Castle laughed at her remark. Kate shook her head at him.

"Only you could take a dream I told you about and turn it into a children's story."

"Can I help it if you continue to inspire me?"

"I'm surprised you didn't include a scene where Katie and Rick make out."

"Kate Beckett, it's a children's story!" Castle said, feigning shock. Suddenly he leered at his wife. "I'll let you read the adult version tomorrow night."

Kate laughed at him. She had no doubt he had written a racy, salacious version. It would be interesting to read it she thought to herself. After some moments she slowly got to her feet and walked towards him.

"Your mother called me to say that she'll be here around nine tomorrow." Kate informed him.

"She hasn't offered to help with the cooking has she?" Castle made an exaggerated show of shuddering.

"Be nice, she's not that bad and you know it." Kate chided him.

Castle smiled up at her.

"And your dad?"

"As early as he can."

"Any excuse to play with his grandchildren." Castle laughed.

"When's Alexis flying in?" She asked.

"Early tomorrow morning."

"You picking her up?"

Castle nodded. It had been over a month since he had seen his daughter and he could not disguise the excitement he was feeling at seeing her again.

Kate held out her hand to him.

"Well Santa will need to get a good night's rest." She told him.

"Aww wont Santa get the chance to unwrap his present tonight?" Castle pouted.

"If he's a good boy."

"Will his present be wearing that cute elf costume?" Castle asked hopefully.

"Santa will have to wait and see." Kate said with an enigmatic smile.

Castle took hold of her outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled out of the armchair and to be led in the direction of their bedroom. Suddenly he pulled her to him and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, burying his face against her neck.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs Castle."

"Merry Christmas, Mr Castle."

The End.

_**Thank yo to everyone who read this story, added it to their favourite's list, and who had sent me a review. I appreciate it more than you will ever know. A wish you all a very Happy Christmas and Happy Holiday. Until next time,**_

_**Peace, Love and Happiness.**_

_**Con **_


End file.
